Xi: Boost efforts in battling poverty

President Xi Jinping has called for concerted actions, concrete efforts and hard work in poverty alleviation to strive for the comprehensive victory of the nation’s critical battle against poverty.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the call in a recent instruction on the nation’s poverty elimination drive.

A national teleconference on poverty alleviation was held in Beijing on Monday. Xi’s instruction was announced at the meeting.

Xi said poverty reduction remains urgent and arduous, and Party committees and government departments at various levels must stand firm and take targeted measures to lead the masses combating poverty with a down-to-earth spirit.

Winning the battle against poverty is of crucial importance in completing the building of a moderately well-off society in all respects as well as achieving the “Two Centenary Goals”, Xi said.

He highlighted the responsibilities of Party committees and government departments in poverty relief, saying it is a political task to win the battle. Governments at various levels must clarify their own responsibilities in targeted poverty alleviation, Xi said.

He urged government officials to persist in the goal and standard that the central government has formulated, saying impoverished rural areas and people should be targeted so that no single poverty-stricken area or individual will be left behind.

Enthusiasms and initiatives from all walks of life should be mobilized so that government efforts will combine with market and social forces, Xi added.

Premier Li Keqiang also made a written instruction on poverty alleviation, urging that the poverty relief efforts should be in synergy with the national rural revitalization strategy.

China has committed to eliminating poverty by 2020.