China shows determination in fighting poverty

BEIJING, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday officially unveiled its poverty-reduction plan for the next decade -- in which it pledged to provide adequate food and clothing for poverty-stricken people while ensuring their access to compulsory education, basic medical services and housing by 2020 -- showing the government's determination to fight poverty.

In the Outline for Poverty Reduction and Development of China's Rural Areas (2011-2020), the government said ensuring sufficient food and clothing for the impoverished and helping them become prosperous will be a priority over the next decade.

The outline is the third state-level poverty-reduction plan and is part of the government's efforts to build a well-off society in an all-around way by 2020.

China launched its anti-poverty drive in an organized and large-scale manner in the mid-1980s. In 1994, it unveiled a plan designed to secure food supplies for 80 million rural residents over seven years, marking China's first attempt to designate a specific target for poverty reduction.

In 2001, China published the Outline for Poverty Reduction and Development of China's Rural Areas (2001-2010), reiterating the need to reduce poverty through development projects.

After a 30-year effort, the country's poverty-stricken population in rural regions fell to 26.88 million by the end of 2010 from 250 million in 1978. And the country also met the United Nations' Millennium Development Goal of halving its population living in poverty five years ahead of schedule.

Despite the progress China has made, poverty reduction will continue to be an arduous and long-term task for the government.