Over 80 million Chinese people lifted out of poverty in 6 years: official
By Bao Han
People's Daily app
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China has reached an 80-million reduction in poverty in the past six years, with more than 13 million people on average lifted out of poverty each year, according to a press conference on Thursday.

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(Photo: People's Daily app)

Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, made the remarks and answered questions on the country’s battle against poverty during the Two Sessions of the 13th National People’s Congress.

“China has reached remarkable achievements in poverty reduction, “ said Liu.

In the past six years since the targeted poverty alleviation was first proposed, over 80 million Chinese have escaped poverty, and more than 13 million on average a year have been lifted out of poverty.

Among the nine provinces in East China, eight have no poor population based on the national standard, Liu added.

"We had 832 impoverished counties in China. 28 counties were lifted from poverty in 2016, 125 counties in 2017, and an estimated 280 counties in 2018," said Liu. 

Based on the progress, China has the ability to eliminate poverty by 2020.

"This year we plan to lift more than 10 million people and about 300 counties from poverty," said Liu.

In order to achieve this goal, more measures like improving information technology, carrying out a strict performance assessment system and strengthening supervision should be implemented.

At the same time, China should recognize how arduous the work is and that poverty alleviation still has a long way to go.

“Eliminating poverty does not mean that China has no poor people. Relative poverty will still exist for a long time,” said Liu.