It’s a battle the government is determined to win.

Over the past five years, China has lifted 68 million people from poverty. Experts have called it a miracle. 

But the work doesn’t end there.

Around 30 million people still live in poverty, and the government wants to change this by 2020, in order to create a more prosperous society. Beyond 2020, it vows to continue helping those in need. This year, the goal is to help 10 million more people overcome impoverishment.

I have seen poverty firsthand as a reporter based in Sichuan and Shaanxi. The provinces are home to millions of people, including ethnic minorities, who live below the national poverty line.

I believe the central government understands the difficulties in fighting poverty very well. President Xi Jinping has put himself at the forefront of this battle over the past five years, visiting many of the country’s poorest regions. Just a month ago, Xi visited poor villages in a mountainous area in Sichuan. His message was clear: The country will strive to build a more prosperous society by 2020, and no one will be left behind. 

Xi’s visit served as a guide for the central and local governments in their efforts. For example, more training programs should be in place to help villagers find jobs. The affluent eastern regions and the central government will allocate more resources to poverty-stricken areas. Infrastructure, like roads, should be built in rural and mountainous areas, especially in China's southwest and northwest.

In his government work report, Premier Li Keqiang laid down measures that the central government will implement in 2018 to reduce poverty in rural areas by over 10 million. Some 2.8 million people will be relocated from inhospitable areas. Local industries, education, and health care will be developed. More funds will be allocated to areas of extreme poverty.

Beyond figures and policies, however, it is important not to forget the human face of poverty and how it’s closely related to other problems, such as disease.

In southwestern Yunnan Province, close to China’s border with Myanmar, I once did a story on a severely impoverished village that suffered from a HIV/AIDS epidemic. Children, many of who got the disease from their mothers, are among the most vulnerable. There’s also a lack of information on HIV/AIDS prevention. 

Dong Shicai has stayed there for two years, teaching not only math, music, and sports, but also HIV/AIDS prevention and sex education. I followed Dong to one of his students’ homes, and saw extreme poverty up close. It’s hard to imagine how people, especially children, could live in those harsh conditions.

From a wider perspective, fighting poverty is not only about alleviating the plight of 98 million people. More importantly, it’s about securing the future of China’s next generation.

Some of the worst affected by poverty are the children left-behind in rural areas, whose parents have to work elsewhere to give them a better life. Thus, battling poverty should include creating jobs and opportunities in the countryside so that parents should no longer need to leave their sons and daughters. Parents would be able to return to their villages, and their children would no longer be alone. It would create a chain reaction that could change many people’s lives.