Ahua, 66-year-old, picks tea leaves in the Danzhai Poverty Alleviation Tea Garden on July 1. (Photo: Global Times)

A UN official's comment that 200 million people in China live on less than $5 a day stirred discussion on Chinese social media, with many netizens suggesting the number is inflated and not entirely indicative of living standards, while others said the comment is a reminder that China is still a developing country.
Richard Kozul-Wright, director of the Globalization and Development Strategies Division in United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, made the remarks in a recent interview with China Radio International,according to media reports on Saturday.
"China has 200 million people living on less than $5 a day, a large rural population, and many people working in the informal economy," said Wright.
The UN official's remarks come as the US government continues to question China's status as a developing country within the WTO.
"Being designated a developed country by the WTO would mean that China would have to take on more responsibilities than its capable of handling," Li Shi, director of the Institute for Income Distribution and Poverty Studies at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times on Sunday.
These responsibilities include payment of membership fees, further opening its domestic market, international aid and lowering tariffs," said Li, adding that the US is only aiming to hinder China's development.
According to the World Bank in April, extreme poverty widely refers to an income below the international poverty line of $1.90 per day, whereas lower and upper middle income poverty lines are $3.20 and $5.50 a day.
China Radio International's report on Wright's remarks has received more than 250 comments on the internet. 
Some Chinese Web users doubted the veracity of the UN official data. "I do not believe the data because the data did not show how vibrant and dynamic China's development is."
Most netizens, however, agree with Wright's point that China is still a developing country, and found the data believable.
"There are still many people in China who can barely afford food and clothing and there is nothing to be embarrassed about of accepting that truth," one commented.
"This clearly shows that the US is being irrational and its moves are not based on the reality. We should work hard to make China better," another netizen said.
China has made huge progress in poverty alleviation, according to other UN data. CNN reported in April that the number of people living in poverty in China dropped from 750 million in 1990 to 16.6 million in 2019.