Politics
19:35, 10-Oct-2017
Official: China makes great strides in poverty alleviation
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At a press conference, held by the State Council Information Office on Tuesday, an official said that China has made great progress in its work to alleviate poverty.
"The number of people living below the poverty line in China has been reduced by an average of 13 million each year since 2012," said Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.
"It is an unprecedented achievement," said Liu.
The country had lifted 6.39 million people out of poverty annually in the last fifteen years of the 20th century, following the 1986 launch of large scale poverty relief programs.
Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development speaks at a press conference in Beijing, China on October 10, 2017. /SCIO Photo
Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development speaks at a press conference in Beijing, China on October 10, 2017. /SCIO Photo
During the first decade of this century, the amount of people living below the poverty line decreased by an annual average of 6.73 million, according to Liu.
Policies such as targeted poverty alleviation have also gained ground, but despite progress, major difficulties still face people living in deep poverty, Liu said.
Prominent problems such as poverty caused by illness still need to be tackled, he added.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in November 2012, the Chinese leadership has placed poverty alleviation high on its agenda.
Over 700 million rural residents have been lifted out of poverty since the start of China's reform and opening-up in 1978, and the country aims to lift at least 10 million people out of poverty annually over the next three years and eradicate poverty by 2020 – 10 years ahead of the United Nation's target of "eliminating poverty in all forms by 2030."
China will mark its fourth National Poverty Relief Day on October 17. In a written instruction released on Monday, President Xi said remarkable progress has been made in poverty reduction work, while also calling for "enhanced and solid efforts" to win the fight against poverty.