Chinese leaders promise rural poverty in the country will soon be a thing of the past.

The country's State Council says, if current trends hold, all rural incomes should be lifted above the poverty line by 2020.  

Large relief efforts and steady economic development have already raised more than 700-million out of poverty since the late 1970s.

Over the past five years, the government launched a more targeted campaign focusing on education, protecting the environment, and resettlement.

Officials say those programs will have led to an 85 percent drop in the number of rural poor by the end of this year.

The number of impoverished villages will have dropped by 80 percent and the number of poor counties will have been cut in half.

Still, the country's poverty alleviation chief says more work is needed.

LIU YONGFU, MINISTER STATE COUNCIL LEADING GROUP OFFICE OF POVERTY ALLEVIATION & DEVELOPMENT "We're on the right track toward poverty relief, in line with China's national conditions. We focus on targeted assistance and support, implementing policies through multi-tier examinations and supervision by public opinion. We then mainly focus on the most impoverished areas, including 334 poverty-stricken counties and 30,000 poverty-stricken villages. We will also investigate and specify problems for different people, like drinking water, dilapidated houses, healthcare, and education. We try not to leave anyone out."