Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China will lift over 10 million rural residents out of poverty this year, while delivering a government work report on Sunday morning at the opening meeting of the fifth session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.

“This year we will further reduce the number of rural residents living in poverty by over 10 million, including 3.4 million to be relocated from inhospitable areas. Central government funding for poverty alleviation will be increased by over 30 percent,” said Li.

He stressed that “poor areas and people living in poverty represent the area of greatest weakness we must face as we work to finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.”

“We need to step up development in contiguous areas of extreme poverty and old revolutionary bases,” He continued. “For this we should focus on the following work: improving infrastructure and public services; fostering poverty alleviation through distinctive local businesses, the domestic and overseas export of labor, and the improvement of education and healthcare; implementing the program for improving life in poor villages, and building the self-development capacity of poor areas and people.”

“In poor counties, different rural development funds will be merged, and oversight over funds and projects will be strengthened,” Li added. “We will support non-governmental participation in combating poverty. The system for ensuring responsibility is taken for poverty elimination will be effectively enforced, the strictest possible evaluations and assessments of poverty alleviation will be carried out, and stern measures will be taken to address deception, falsification and the manipulation of numbers in poverty elimination work. We must see that the results of our poverty elimination earn the approval of our people and stand the test of time.”