China Lifts More Counties out of Poverty
With more counties being lifted out of poverty, China has made concrete steps toward delivering the country’s goal of completely eliminating poverty by 2020.
Forty counties have officially been removed from the country’s list of 125 impoverished counties after going through a rigorous evaluation, including assessments from third-party institutions, a poverty relief official said on Friday at a press conference. “The 40 counties have reached a milestone by having the ‘impoverished’ label removed,” said Xia Gengsheng, the deputy head of the Leading Group Office on Poverty Alleviation and Development under the State Council. Southwest China’s Sichuan Province had 10 counties removed from the list. The rest come from provincial regions including Jiangxi, Heilongjiang, Hunan and Shanxi. A county can be removed from the list if less than two per cent of its population is below the national poverty line, defined as a per capita annual income of 2300 yuan (FJ$740) at 2010 prices. In western regions, counties must have less than three per cent of residents living in poverty to be removed from the list.
But removal from the list does not mean poverty relief efforts end, according to Mr Xia, who promised continued favourable policies, subsidies and financial support as well as supervision to ensure further development of these areas. “We will continue to work hard in helping those still living in poverty, cement what we have achieved and integrate poverty-fighting with the country’s rural revitalisation strategy,” Mr Xia said.