Income of nation's poor hits milestone target

Thanks to China's sweeping anti-poverty drive, the average annual income for people who used to be labeled as impoverished in China has reached more than 10,000 yuan ($1,527) this year, far above the national poverty line, a senior official said Tuesday.

China has defined extreme poverty as earning less than 2,300 yuan a year, which was set a decade ago and has been adjusted annually against purchasing power parity. The amount is about 4,000 yuan this year.

Su Guoxia, of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, China's top-level anti-poverty agency, said the nation has successfully eradicated absolute poverty over the eight years starting in late 2012, and managed to pull all its impoverished counties – which stood at 832 only five years ago – out of needy situations.

The achievement has allowed China to embark on a new journey to build China into a modern socialist nation, a goal set to be reached by the centenary of the People's Republic of China in 2049, said the head of the agency's general department.

She made the announcement at a news conference in Beijing which released the Asia Poverty Reduction Report 2020. The report said Asia has been leading the poverty reduction cause worldwide since 1990, to which China is a major contributor.

The progress came as China has waged a targeted poverty relief campaign over the eight years that has profiled nearly 100 million poor farmers and given them targeted assistance, she added, ranging from micro-finance programs to subsidized schooling and healthcare plans.

The progress also followed a huge increase in financial assistance targeting border regions and other remote places inhabited by some of the smaller ethnic groups.