A TOUGH BATTLE

Discerning areas in dire need from those who could simply use extra funding has proven a rigorous challenge for poverty alleviation officials.

Currently, a total of 832 Chinese counties are now receiving national poverty relief, with supportive policies and special funds.

The desire for increased funding has lured some counties to rush for the qualification, increasing incidents of inefficient or illegal use of poverty relief funds.

Fake information, embezzlement, misuse of the funds for other purposes such as entertaining officials and investing on image projects were common problems found in 19 counties from 2010 to 2012, according to the country's top audit agency.

Meanwhile, many counties took a short-sighted approach, using the fund by simply giving money to the poor instead of more diverse and efficient supportive measures, said Liu Zhongcheng, head of the poverty relief office of Inner Mongolia.

Eliminating poverty is not simply about giving money to the poor. The more sustainable approach is to work with them to help lift themselves out of poverty and thrive through technological, policy support and other measures, said Wang Binbin, project manager of the climate change and poverty project with Oxfam, a worldwide development organization focusing on poverty alleviation.

China is now working on improving the evaluation method for impoverished counties, applying more restraints on the use of fund and checking the county's qualification regularly, said Su Guoxia, head of the policy and regulation department of CPAD.

"We will encourage qualified counties to rid themselves of the label by getting rich through government support and hard work. It's not shameful to be poor, but indeed creditable to shake off poverty," Su said.