This article attempts to examine the relationship between economic growth and poverty reduction through an analysis of the effects of remarkable growth performance of three East Asian countries viz China, Korea and Taiwan on poverty reduction. Through an extensive review of literature, it was found that the level of poverty as well as income inequality in China has remained high for most of the time despite exceptional growth rates over the past few decades. Whereas, both South Korea and Taiwan have witnessed significant reduction in the level of poverty as well as income inequality. The findings suggest that a robust relationship between growth and poverty reduction does not prevail across all the ‘miraculous economies’. Furthermore, the findings also shed light on the nexus between economic growth, poverty reduction and income inequality. From the Chinese case, it is evident that economic growth has not translated into poverty reduction. Skewed economic growth patterns seem to have deteriorated income inequality among different regions in China. On the contrary, economic growth seems to be closely associated with both poverty reduction and income inequality both in the Republic of Korea and Taiwan.