This special issue of Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) reflects on the journey towards participatory approaches in poverty reduction in China, focusing in particular on the transformations at the interface between the government and rural communities. The issue discusses why and how participatory approaches have been introduced, and why these approaches are useful for addressing issues of poverty in China. The articles show how development and poverty approaches continue to evolve in the specific Chinese political context and its ongoing governance changes, and in line with China’s unique ability to experiment with and pilot new approaches, pragmatically using international experience. The discussion is relevant and important for the global audience that is trying to understand China’s unique approach to development and its implication for global poverty reduction, but it is also relevant to understand how and under what conditions participatory approaches become embedded in specific contexts.

This issue draws on case studies from internationally funded projects, including the Poor Rural Communities Development Project (PRCDP). It also includes other articles on participation in China, as well as relevant resources and tips for trainers.

China's social transformation over the last 30 years has beenamong history's most dramatic ones. Economic growth has been phenomenal, an estimated 500 million people have been lifted out of poverty, and hundreds of millions of people are moving from rural to urban areas. Fundamental changes are taking place in the relationship between the state and citizens. While in the past rural citizens were seen as passive recipients of target focused top-down programmes, official development planning pronouncements in China now emphasise 'people-centered development'. Participatory approaches are playing a significant role in this transformation, and international agencies are making a big contribution. This themed issue of PLA includes case studies from the World Bank/DFID funded Poor Rural Communities' Project (PRCDP).