SMU Associate Professor of Political Science John Donaldson, who has extensively researched poverty in China, said that while the country has had anti-poverty campaigns for decades, no Chinese leader before Chinese President Xi Jinping had displayed such personal attachment to the effort. He pointed out that the extensive propaganda in poor rural areas shows how the party's credibility is linked to the campaign's success. "But it also requires that people identify the party as being the reason for success. It's not because of local cadres, or your own hard work, but because of Xi Jinping's approach and policies," he added.