“人民对美好生活的向往，就是我们的奋斗目标。”这些年来，习近平总书记对贫困群众深深牵挂，走遍了全国14个集中连片特困地区。如今，这些地区也发生了翻天覆地的变化。

China has set 2020 as the target year to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society, which requires the eradication of poverty. The task has become more difficult and costly as the process approaches its end. The country is in a race with time, and President Xi Jinping has put himself on the front lines.

Since 2012, Xi has visited all the 14 most impoverished areas in the country. And the areas he has visited have since undergone great changes.

根据国家统计局2019年2月公布的数据，截至2018年末，全国农村贫困人口从2012年末的9899万人减少至1660万人，累计减少8239万人；贫困发生率从2012年的10.2%下降至1.7%，累计下降8.5个百分点。按现行国家农村贫困标准测算，2018年末，全国农村贫困人口1660万人，比上年末减少1386万人；贫困发生率1.7%，比上年下降1.4个百分点。

China lifted 82.39 million rural people out of poverty between 2012 and 2018, and its poverty rate – the proportion of people living below the poverty line – dropped from 10.2 percent to 1.7 percent in the same period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

NBS data show that the rural population living below the current poverty line was 16.6 million by the end of 2018, down 13.86 million from the previous year. The poverty rate in 2018 was also down 1.4 percentage points from 2017.

2014年4月，习总书记来到新疆进行考察和调研。这是党的十八大之后，习总书记第一次到新疆考察。考察过程中，他还同南疆五地州负责同志就当地的民生问题进行座谈。

President Xi visited northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in April 2014. It was his first trip to the region after he became General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. He discussed people's livelihoods with local officials.

2018年，新疆共有53.7万贫困人口实现脱贫、513个贫困村退出，贫困发生率由2017年底的11.57%下降至2018年底的6.51%。

In 2018 alone, more than 537,000 people and 513 villages rose above the poverty line in Xinjiang, and poverty rate there dropped to 6.51 percent from 11.57 percent of the previous year.

2015年6月，习总书记来到遵义县枫香镇花茂村考察。这里近年统筹推进精准扶贫，实现了田园风光、红色文化、陶艺文化与产业发展有机融合。

President Xi visited Huamao Village in southwest China's Guizhou Province in June 2015. The village has witnessed all-round development of various sectors by implementing the concept of targeted poverty alleviation.

2018年，贵州省脱贫攻坚连战连捷。全省共减少贫困人口148万人，贫困发生率从2017年的7.75%下降到4.3%，易地扶贫搬迁入住76.19万人，朝着按时打赢脱贫攻坚战的目标迈出了关键步伐。

Last year, 1.48 million people were pulled out of poverty in Guizhou Province, while poverty rate dropped to 4.3 percent from 7.75 percent of the previous year. Some 761,900 people moved into new homes thanks to relocation projects which are part of government-sponsored poverty alleviation efforts.

安徽省金寨县是国家级首批重点贫困县，2011年被确定为大别山片区扶贫攻坚重点县。2016年4月，习总书记来到金寨县花石乡大湾村走访村民，同当地干部群众共商脱贫攻坚大计。

Jinzhai County in east China's Anhui Province is among the country's most impoverished counties. In April 2016, President Xi visited Jinzhai and listened to villagers' ideas and suggestions on poverty-alleviation activities.

2018年末，安徽省已有72.6万贫困人口脱贫，贫困发生率从2014年内的9.1%下降至0.93%；同一时期内，贫困人口从484万人减少至49.88万人。

By the end of 2018, 726,000 people in the province rose above the poverty line. The poor population was reduced to 498,800 from 4.84 million in four years. During the same period, the poverty rate dropped from 9.1 percent to 0.93 percent.

2017年全国两会期间，习总书记在参加四川代表团审议时表示，在电视上看到有关凉山州“悬崖村”的报道，特别是看到村民们的出行状态，感到很揪心。他了解到当地建了新的铁梯，心里稍稍松了一些。

"Last year, the media reported on Cliff Village in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. Seeing the villagers and children climbing on the cliff all year round, having their safety threatened, I felt quite concerned and anxious," said President Xi during a panel discussion with national lawmakers from southwest China's Sichuan Province at the annual session of the National People's Congress in 2017.

2017年以前，“悬崖村”的村民们进出村子需要攀爬由藤条和木棍编成的17段“天梯”，从山脚下到半山腰只有4公里，却需要走上5个小时。现在的“天梯”，是用1500根钢管打造的，让乡亲们脱贫奔小康的梦想不再遥不可及。

Atuleer Village, better known as Cliff Village, lies at an altitude of more than 1,400 meters and 72 families live there. Until 2017, the only way to the outside world from the village was to climb down 17 rattan ladders, of which two were vertical ladders stretching 100 meters in length. The precipices without rattan ladders were the most dangerous. The situation aroused concern from the central government and the local government, and a steel ladder was installed in November 2016.

四川凉山州是全国最大的彝族聚集区，也是全国连片深度贫困地区之一。2018年2月，春节来临之际，习总书记来到大凉山深处，走进彝族贫困群众家中，同当地干部群众共商精准脱贫之策。2019年2月11日，习总书记曾经探访过的三河村，首批29户、168人告别了居住多年的土坯房，正式搬入新家。

President Xi paid a visit to poor families in a mountainous area in southwest China's Sichuan Province in February 2018 ahead of the Spring Festival. During the tour, Xi asked the villagers about their lives and discussed poverty alleviation efforts with local officials and villagers. On February 11, 2019, 168 residents from 29 households in Sanhe Village moved to new homes.