Poverty Relief in China: A Comparative Analysis of Kinship Contracts in Four Provinces

Evidence from Gansu, Hunan, Shandong, and Yunnan provinces shows that subnational authorities in China draw on personal relations to alleviate poverty and legitimize their rule. Through an invasive process of claiming kin, local government officials are required to sign kinship contracts with poor households. The contract links bureaucratic performance reviews to tangible outcomes, creating new incentives and pressures for officials to help lift their adopted families out of poverty. The general aspiration may be to improve bureaucratic processes by establishing direct, transparent connections between state and society, however the authors contend that the invasive and personalized nature of the kinship policy risks disrupting the existing social order and complicating local poverty relief efforts, leading to local variance, extortion and other irregularities.