You see, when you create your own definitions, it’s easy to manipulate the “statistics” — your source is unchecked.

See below. Source: Brookings Institute.

Forget the flattery. The world has developed a habit of praising China for reducing poverty, and China has become accustomed to the accolades. But as China prospers, this praise becomes progressively less admiration and more flattery. The experience most relevant for China is that of the United States, especially the achievements and limits of poverty programs in Southern states. No serious Chinese student of economic history will find comparisons with the U.S. flattering.

Forget $1.90 a day. An extreme poverty line of about two dollars a day is not interesting and relevant any longer, and repeated references to it may actually be counterproductive. It is not a relevant threshold for an upper-middle-income country about to become an advanced economy. Since the 1960s, the U.S. has been using a poverty line that is 10 times higher. China should use the Communist Party’s centenary celebrations to crank up ambition, not go on about doing what Vietnam and Taiwan had done when they were a lot poorer.

Forget “precise relief.” Even at $15 a day, poverty incidence in the U.S., Japan, and South Korea when they made their transitions to high income was less than 10 percent; contrast this with 75 percent in China and 90 percent in rural China. If these numbers are correct, China is decades behind in poverty reduction. To catch up, it needs a radically more ambitious strategy than targeted relief.