All counties in east China's Jiangxi cast off poverty

Farmers work in the field in Xigang Village of Shibu County in Nanchang City, east China's Jiangxi Province, March 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi)

NANCHANG, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The last seven poverty-stricken counties in east China's Jiangxi Province, an old revolutionary base, have been removed from the country's list of impoverished counties, local authorities announced Sunday.

This marks that all 25 impoverished county-level regions in Jiangxi have shaken off poverty, amid the country's efforts to eradicate absolute poverty by the end of 2020.

Jiangxi has a population of 46.67 million as of 2019, official data showed. The poor population in the province has decreased from 3.46 million in 2013 to 96,000 now, and the poverty headcount ratio has been reduced from 9.21 percent to 0.27 percent.

A county can be removed from the list if its impoverished population drops to less than 2 percent, according to a national mechanism established in April 2016 to eliminate poverty in affected regions. The ratio can be loosened to 3 percent in the western region.

By the end of 2019, 5.51 million people in China were still living in poverty.

Jiangxi will continue to adopt poverty alleviation measures to prevent people from returning to poverty, and help the remaining poor population escape poverty by integrating resources and providing accurate assistance, according to the provincial poverty relief office.