My first encounter with the issue of poverty was during my doctoral studies, when I almost traveled across the impoverished areas of central and western China. The state of rural poverty sparked my interest in studying poverty issues. Over the next thirty years, I focused my research on poverty, traversing 14 contiguous areas of extreme poverty and more than 300 impoverished counties nationwide. I achieved some significant research results, advised on national poverty alleviation policies, participated in the country's poverty alleviation and development efforts, and contributed my modest effort towards eliminating absolute poverty in China.

Over thirty years, I have led dozens of poverty-related research projects, including two major National Social Science Fund projects: "Research on Poverty Alleviation and Development Strategies in China's Special Poverty Areas" and "Research on the Mechanism and Policy of Targeted Poverty Alleviation and Eradication." I was the first scholar in China to introduce experimental research methods into anti-poverty studies. The organic integration of theory and practice has not only advanced China's anti-poverty efforts but also deepened theoretical research achievements. I have also proposed the poverty mechanisms and development paths for special types of (deep) poverty areas, analyzed the experiences, driving forces, and institutional factors of China's large-scale poverty reduction, systematically elaborated on General Secretary Xi Jinping's theory and practice of targeted poverty alleviation, and conducted forward-looking research on China's integrated urban-rural poverty alleviation strategies. I have published 12 academic monographs and over 160 papers in core journals domestically and internationally, sharing China's experiences and stories with the world, contributing Chinese wisdom to global poverty reduction. My main works include: "Poverty Issues in Rural China," "Contemporary China's Poverty Alleviation" (in both Chinese and English), "Overcoming Poverty in Development" (in both Chinese and English), "Poverty Alleviation and Regional Development: Poverty and Poverty Alleviation Strategies in China's Extremely Poor Areas," "Research on Anti-Poverty Issues in Urban-Rural Integration," "Research on Poverty Issues among Ethnic Minorities," "China's 40-Year Large-Scale Poverty Reduction: Driving Forces and Institutional Foundations," "China's Poverty Alleviation Performance and Targeted Poverty Alleviation," among other monographs and papers.

Theoretical research must serve the country's major strategic goals to reflect the value of the research. Since the mid-1980s, I have been actively involved in the research and advisory work on major national poverty alleviation policies. As a member of the Expert Advisory Committee of the State Council's Leading Group on Poverty Alleviation and Development and a specially invited expert in the think tank of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for participating in and deliberating on state affairs, I have provided hundreds of policy research reports to the central government and departments related to poverty alleviation. More than ten research reports have received instructions from national leaders, and nine reports have been acknowledged by provincial and ministerial leaders of relevant departments. The research findings have provided a scientific basis for the formulation of related poverty alleviation policies, playing a significant role in practice.

Since the launch of the poverty alleviation campaign, I have organized and participated in third-party evaluations in the field of poverty alleviation, making significant contributions to the establishment of evaluation standards and on-site assessments, thus contributing to ensuring the reliability of poverty alleviation outcomes. As the head of the expert group for the evaluation of poverty exit in impoverished counties, I was responsible for the development of evaluation questionnaires and exit criteria, organizing group members to formulate evaluation procedures and other technical standards, and exploring and practicing third-party evaluation methods. I have also actively participated in the on-site evaluations of poverty exit in counties and the effectiveness of poverty alleviation work by party committees and governments at all levels, adhering to the principle of seeking truth from facts to ensure that assessments are fair and objective. More than 1,000 teachers and students were mobilized to participate in the evaluation work of 68 impoverished counties exiting poverty.

To help local governments better understand important poverty alleviation policies and poverty exit standards, I have also actively participated in training on targeted poverty alleviation and assessment. In 2019, I was responsible for training and guidance on special evaluations for poverty exit in impoverished counties in Tibet, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, and Hainan, providing dozens of training sessions and policy consultations on targeted poverty alleviation to governments at all levels.

  As a scholar, continuing to deepen research on anti-poverty theory and policy practice is my lifelong pursuit. I am currently undertaking a key project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China on "The Intrinsic Dynamics and Policy Research for Sustainable Development in Poverty-Alleviated Areas," and in the future, I will continue to organize and rely on the anti-poverty research strength accumulated over the years by Renmin University of China. This effort aims to systematically study the intrinsic dynamics of sustainable development in poverty-alleviated areas and populations, and the mechanisms to stimulate these dynamics, providing a theoretical basis for the formulation of post-2020 anti-poverty policies.