One year before China’s ambitious goal to lift all rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty by 2020, Chinese officials from across the nation expressed their determination to secure a decisive victory in the battle against poverty at the ongoing Two Sessions.

Chen Quanguo, a National People’s Congress (NPC) deputy, also the Party chief of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China, said at the Two Sessions that the region lifted some 537,000 people in 513 villages out of poverty, bringing the poverty incidence rate down to 6.51% in the region in 2018.

Chen noted that the region has come up with precise policies and funds targeting those under the poverty lines, such as educational or vocational skills training, to motivate the population.

In central China’s Hunan province, similar policies have been readied to help the remaining population of more than 800,000 people who live under the poverty line, according to Du Jiahao, NPC deputy and also Party chief of Hunan.

The province will also encourage households to “pair up” in the combat against poverty, which will help poor families find strength and learn from relatively better-off people.

In addition, southwest China’s Guizhou province has vowed to guarantee schooling, medical services, and accommodation to local residents, as they are the tree main reasons families fall into poverty, said Sun Zhigang, NPC deputy and Guizhou province’s Party chief.

To realize the 2020 goal, China has vowed to continue to work vigorously to reduce poverty and lift no less than 10 million people out of poverty in 2019, Xinhua reported.

President Xi Jinping has repeatedly pushed for increased efforts on poverty alleviation. The president stressed the importance of precision in the battle against poverty, saying that poverty alleviation should target certain people and industries and the right tools should be used to produce results, Xinhua reported.

“Fighting poverty is the fundamental task in building an all-round moderately prosperous society,” Xi said.