Getting the "basics"? The World Bank's narrative construction of poverty reduction in China.

An important share of worldwide poverty reduction since the 1970s is due to China's decrease in rural poverty. This article asks how has this extraordinary story of success traveled beyond East Asia, and in particular how the World Bank reflected it. Building on studies of policy narratives, it shows how the Bank has since the 1990s constructed a perspective that aligns China with its broader depiction of "pro-market" East Asia. It downplays the role of the state as subsidizer and buyer of poor people's production and reduces Chinese policies to their land reform component, which then becomes the basis of policy advice extended to transitioning and African countries. The article's main contribution is showing the constitution of a development narrative spanning two decades and reaching the form of an extremely concise and therefore increasingly ubiquitous statement about a "liberalizing China" and the poverty-reducing and market-conforming effect of land reform alone. • The paper asks how the World Bank reflected China's successful poverty-reduction story. • The paper reviews the numerous statist elements present in China's rural poverty reduction. • The World Bank downplays the state's role as subsidizer and buyer of poor people's production. • It reduces Chinese policies to a simplified account of their land reform component. • The Bank's treatment of China becomes the basis of policy advice extended to transitioning and African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]