Jack Ma: Poverty alleviation is about giving people hope, not just giving them money

On May 27, at the 2018 China International Big Data Industry Expo, Jack Ma, Chairman of the Board of Alibaba Group, attended the high-end dialogue session on "Targeted Poverty Alleviation" and delivered a keynote speech.

Jack Ma believes that poverty alleviation, poverty reduction and enrichment are three different things. Poverty alleviation is giving people fish, poverty reduction is teaching people how to fish, and enrichment is building fish ponds for everyone. These are three completely different things.

He said that poverty is not because farmers don't work hard, but because agricultural civilization and commercial civilization are not perfectly combined. Poor counties are not because they don't work hard, but because their development models have not kept up. What we really need to eliminate is not the poor, but poverty, and there are many problems at the root of poverty, especially the imbalance of education and insufficient medical and health resources. Poverty is not only about solving the problems of today's poor, but also about solving the problems of poverty. We need to solve the problems from the root through education, medical care, and various other methods. The most important thing to eliminate diseases is to eliminate them at the source.

In addition, Jack Ma also emphasized the responsibility of large companies. He said that in recent years, many large companies have actively participated in poverty alleviation work, but he hopes to see more not what we have done, but what we are going to do and how we are going to do it? Because what you are going to do can bring more inspiration to everyone. "The bigness of a large company is not the big profits, not the big income, not the big market share, but the big responsibilities and the big responsibility. People hope that you can take more responsibilities and hope that you can do more things."

At the end of his speech, Jack Ma said that he believed Guizhou and Guiyang would be one of the most meaningful and richest places in China in the future, because they understand the future, they have free voice, they are willing to work hard, and they dare to challenge things that others dare not do. This is also the greatest hope for poverty alleviation. Poverty alleviation is about giving people hope, not just giving people money.

Attached is the transcript of Jack Ma’s speech:

Dear Minister, Secretary, and Secretary-General, I came here today to listen to the speech on targeted poverty alleviation. I did not plan to speak. I thought I would sit here to listen, learn, and think, because there have been too many speeches recently, mainly on poverty alleviation and poverty reduction, which Alibaba attaches great importance to. So I came here mainly to learn. The Minister just asked me to speak, so I will share some views and opinions.

I was very moved when I was sitting there just now. Many of the opinions are very inspiring to us, especially so many companies and so many people have invested so much effort. I feel very encouraged. The central government proposed to completely eliminate poverty and vigorously fight corruption. These are the two most idealistic, difficult and powerful initiatives in our country in recent years. Therefore, all the people with lofty ideals in the past dynasties hope to solve the problem of poverty and eliminate poverty, but almost no one has found a good way. China's 1.4 billion people are going to be completely lifted out of poverty, and a timetable has been set. I think this task is so big, so arduous, so great and so far-reaching that it is the most remarkable initiative of this century.

I personally think that poverty alleviation, poverty reduction and prosperity are three different things. Poverty alleviation gives people fish, poverty reduction teaches people how to fish, and prosperity means building fish ponds for everyone. These are three completely different things. Poverty is not because our farmers don’t work hard, but because our agricultural civilization and commercial civilization are not perfectly combined. Poor counties are not because they don’t work hard, but because our development model has not kept up. What we really want to eliminate is not the poor, but poverty, and poverty has many problems at its root, especially the imbalance of education and the insufficiency of medical and health resources. Sometimes we hope to see the education of children. If it is not given enough attention and concern, then many years later these children will still be poor and still poor. Therefore, poverty is not only about solving the problems of the poor today, but also about solving the problems of poverty. We must solve the problems from the root through education, medical care, and various methods. The most important thing to eliminate diseases is to eliminate them at the source.

Another point of view is that in the past, the joint responsibility system solved the problem of who owned the crops grown on the land and greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of farmers for production. Today, big data and the Internet need to solve the problem of who to sell the crops grown on the land to, and how to increase the value of the land. Only when the land is increased in value and farmers feel that the land is profitable, will farmers return to the land. In the past, farmers left their hometowns and became migrant workers. Today, how to increase the value of the land, let farmers return to their hometowns, become agricultural workers, and form a real agricultural industry, is what we most want to see. We often talk about rural modernization. We must modernize rural towns and villages, rather than agriculturalize towns and cities, so I think we must pay great attention to this aspect.

I once told Huayi Brothers that Chinese actors don't look like anyone because we all come from peasant families. Chinese people are very strange. After 50 or 60, we want to go back to the countryside because we come from the countryside. Only when the countryside becomes beautiful, the countryside develops, and the farmers become wealthy, and the countryside truly looks like a countryside, can we truly return to our roots. So I see that Guiyang, Guizhou, is vigorously developing high-tech and data industries, which actually protects the green mountains and clear waters, and at the same time gives us infinite hope in our poor areas. Who says Guiyang can't do high-tech? Who says poor areas can't develop high-tech and data industries? This brings great hope not only to Guizhou, but also to poor areas across the country and the world.

Third, I am very happy to see so many big companies sharing what they have done today. In recent years, many big companies have actively participated in poverty alleviation work, but I hope to see more not what we have done, but what we are going to do and how to do it? Because what you are going to do can bring more inspiration to everyone. I personally think that the bigness of big companies is not the big profits, not the big income, not the big market share, but the big responsibilities and the big commitments. People hope that you can take more responsibilities and do more things. At Alibaba, we pay attention to poverty alleviation, pay attention to poverty alleviation, and pay attention to public welfare not only for our own good, but for the good of others. If you want Alibaba people to adhere to this ideal, Alibaba people must participate in public welfare. The difference between public welfare and charity is that charity is to give things to others, while public welfare is to benefit yourself. Only when you make yourself better, others will gradually get better. Charity changes others, while public welfare is more about improving yourself. Today, your few cents or dollars cannot change anything, but any action you participate in will change yourself, so we hope that more people will participate in poverty alleviation, more people will participate in poverty alleviation, and more Alibaba employees, only our own employees can experience themselves from charity, understand themselves, know what they have, what they want and what they give up, I believe only such a company can last, so maybe you have the ability to do charity, and the most important thing about doing charity is that you yourself get infinite rewards.

Finally, I would like to wish Guizhou the best. I believe that Guizhou and Guiyang will be one of the most meaningful and richest places in China in the future, because they understand the future, they have free speech, they are willing to work hard, and they dare to challenge what others dare not do. This is also the greatest hope for poverty alleviation. Poverty alleviation is to give people hope, not just money. Thank you everyone.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.