RTX16463.jpg (Photo : Reuters)
More than 600 million Chinese people have been taken out of poverty in the last 30 years, according to Zheng Wenkai, deputy director of the State Council Poverty Alleviation Office.
This announcement comes ahead of the country's first Poverty Alleviation Day this Friday. However, Zheng said that the problem with poverty is far from solved.
"First of all, there is still a large population of impoverished people," he said.
According to the national standard, there were more than 82 million poor people by the end of 2013.
The standard of living on less than $1 a day as a measure of poverty differs from international indicators, Zheng said.
"According to international standards, over 200 million [Chinese] people remain in poverty," the deputy director said. Getting by on $1.25 a day is what international poverty measures consider to be poor, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"Secondly, there is a lot of room for improvement in the living conditions of poor people," Zheng asserted. "They not only live on low incomes, but also face difficulties of getting education, electricity, medical care, bank loans, and so on."
Those living in poverty are also often troubled by inadequate infrastructure; face lack of access to education, health care and loans; and are the most vulnerable to natural calamities, Zheng said.
One of the remedies Zheng proposed is the promotion of energy industries.
He said: "Some industries closely related to poverty relief like energy and photovoltaic industry are to be promoted. We will also boost e-commerce in rural areas. This requires not only support of government, but also help from society."
The national government is working to lift 10 million people out of poverty this year, according to a state work report.
