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Hello and welcome to Chinese Whispers with me, Cindy Yu. Every episode, I'll be talking to

journalists, experts and long-time China

watches about the latest in Chinese politics, society and more. There'll be a smattering of history

to catch you up on the background knowledge and some context as well. How do the Chinese see these

issues? Too often our stories about China are dominated by the urban experience.

Probably because journalists inside and outside of China often based in the big cities, or Beijing specifically,

city dwellers also tend to be more educated, more privileged, such as myself. I was born in

Nanjing, a city of 9 million people. That's why I'm particularly keen to hear about the lives

of those who still live in the countryside, or at least are still considered rural residents

by the Chinese government. They make up a sizable proportion of the population today,

and you'll hear that in my first question to my guest, we discuss just how big this group is.

How do these people who are the poorest in China live today?

Considering the government has announced that there is no more extreme poverty there.

How wide are there gaps in living standards, education, health, compared to their compatriots who live in the cities?

Professor Scott Roselle joins me on this episode.

He is the co-director of the Stanford

Center on China's Economy and Institutions, a developmental economist who has been conducting

research in China for over three decades. A few years ago, he wrote a book with Natalie Hell

...