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China lifts 80m out of poverty
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CHINA has basically achieved its goal of reducing the poor population by 80 million in the last seven years, according to an official with the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.
Gao Hongbin, director of the office, told a press conference yesterday that by the end of 2000, the number of rural poor in China who were inadequately fed and clothed had declined to 30 million, accounting for approximately three per cent of the rural population.
Gao said, "In the poor counties under the national poverty line, economic development has advanced in stride with economic indicators higher than the national average."
Thanks to the fast development, production and living conditions have improved dramatically, said the director.
Statistics show that almost 95.5 per cent of rural villages have access to electricity. Roads, postal service and telephones are accessible to 89 per cent, 69 per cent and 67.7 per cent of all villages respectively.
Gao also revealed at the conference that China will give priority to four categories of areas in its poverty reduction efforts in the next 10 years.
The four include ethnic minority-inhabited areas, those that used to be old revolutionary bases, border areas and some destitute poor areas in central and western China where poor people concentrate, according to Gao.
A list of counties with heavy tasks of poverty reduction will be selected from the above four categories of poor areas as the key targeted areas, he said.
The Central Government will enhance its support to these counties for them to develop agriculture and animal husbandry based on market needs and combined with economic restructuring in an effort to generate more income for the poor.
Most of the eastern provinces with relatively developed economies will have to mainly rely on themselves to help their own poor people get out of poverty, the official said.(SD-Agencies)
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