President Xi: China will eradicate absolute poverty by 2020

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Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated that the country will eradicate absolute poverty by 2020 in a congratulatory letter to an international forum on China's reform and opening-up and poverty alleviation, which opened in Beijing on Thursday.

Since the start of China's reform and opening-up policy 40 years ago, over 700 million people have been lifted out of absolute poverty, Xi said, hailing it as a "miracle" in the history of mankind in poverty reduction.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim speaks at the International Forum on Reform and Opening-up and Poverty Reduction at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, November 1, 2018. /VCG Photo

China will take a range of measures such as targeted poverty alleviation and further collaboration among regions to ensure the eradication of absolute poverty by 2020, he added.

The country has pledged to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020, which means no poor people or region should be left behind, according to Xi.

He said China is willing to make joint efforts with all parties in facilitating poverty reduction worldwide and achieving the poverty reduction goals set in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

China's targeted poverty alleviation: Coordination and evaluation play a key role

People with an annual income lower than 2,300 yuan (336.1 US dollars), based on 2010 prices, are defined as living below the poverty line in China.

From 1978 to 2017, China lifted 740 million people in rural areas out of poverty, roughly 19 million each year. More than 68.5 million rural people were lifted out of poverty from 2012 to 2017.

(Cover photo: A villager carries harvested okra in Fanyang Town, Wuzhishan City of south China's Hainan Province, May 18, 2017. /Xinhua Photo)