China to Help Another 20 Million People Escape Poverty
The Chinese government says it is determined to help another 20 million people get out of poverty by the end of next year, according to a senior Chinese official.
Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao told a recent national conference on poverty relief that when the government's plan is fulfilled, the number of people living in poverty will drop from last year's 42 million to some 20 million, thus generally meeting the central government goal of providing adequate food and clothing for most rural people by the turn of the century.
For the past two decades, and in the past five years especially, China has made a strenuous effort to help rural areas get rid of poverty by allocating a large amount of funds for economic development, Wen said.
Official figures show that the number of rural people living below the poverty line had dropped from 250 million in 1978 to 42 million last year, and a marked improvement had been made in the standard of living.
This has helped both economic growth and social stability and means a great success for China and the rest of the world, especially in view of the fact that the number of people living in poverty worlwide has been increasing markedly, he said.
He asked the governments at various levels to make an even greater effort to further reduce poverty because the conditions of people living in poverty are extremely difficult.
Wen said, no matter how hard the task ahead is, they must try to win the battle. He said that the central government has decided to spend more on poverty relief and has appropriated a record high of 24.8 billion yuan for the purpose this year.
Making proper use of the funds is vital to the success of poverty relief, Wen said, explaining that anyone found guilty of misusing the funds will face severe penalties.
Wen asked local governments to help rural people in poverty-stricken areas to improve farm production conditions and infrastructure to help them increase their incomes.
Coastal regions and other relatively developed regions need to make a contribution to the poverty relief effort in the interior so that the national economy develops in a more coordinated way, he said. (Xinhua)
| 
