70 million out of poverty by 2020
Print Edition
THE government will enact more support policies to lift 70 million of its citizens above the poverty line by 2020, President Xi Jinping said yesterday ahead of today's 23rd International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
In a speech at the Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum in Beijing, Xi drew on his experience in the 1960s as a farmer in a village in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. He said he had been struck by poor living conditions in rural areas.
However, over the past several decades, China has made remarkable progress in poverty relief. It has lifted 700 million rural residents out of poverty since the reform and opening-up campaign began in 1978, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday.
From 1978 to 2014, the rural population living below China's poverty line shrank by an annual average of 19.45 million people, or 6.4 percent year on year, it said on its website.
As of the end of last year, China had 70.17 million rural residents living below the poverty line, which was then set at 2,800 yuan (US$440) a year.
The proportion of poor people in the total population dropped to 7.2 percent in 2014, down from 97.5 percent in 1978.
Poverty reduction accelerated in the 2011-2014 period, with the proportion of the rural population below the poverty threshold decreasing by 95.5 million, an annual average rate of 19.3 percent, the bureau said.
China was the first developing country to meet the UN's Millennium Development Goals target of reducing the population living in poverty by half ahead of a 2015 deadline.
"Despite the achievements, China remains the world's biggest developing country, and narrowing the urban-rural gap remains a big challenge for us,"Xi said.
He said poverty alleviation will be a major part of China's post-2015 agenda.
While striving to reduce poverty at home, China has also actively supported the cause in other developing countries.
Over the past 60 years, China has provided 166 countries and international organizations with nearly 400 billion yuan in assistance and has forgiven mature inter-governmental interest-free loans held by developing countries seven times.
A goal of eliminating poverty in 15 years was laid out at a UN summit last month, and China pledged an initial US$2 billion to establish a fund to help developing nations fight poverty.
Xi proposed countries and organizations accelerate poverty-relief efforts, intensify cooperation and work together to achieve diversified and sustainable development.
In a video message, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised China's achievements in poverty alleviation, saying the UN welcomes Xi's proposals and looks forward to further progress through partnership with China.
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