Within the next six years, China plans to reduce the number of its citizens living below the poverty line at an average rate of a million people a month, according to a report by Shanghai Daily.
The issue of poverty remains an obstacle in China's development despite rapid economic growth in the past two decades.
In a press conference ahead of the 23rd International Day for the Eradication of Poverty this Saturday, Hong Tianyun, director of the State Council's Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development of China, stated that alleviating poverty will be a major task in China's 2016-2020 development plan.
Most of those below the poverty line reside in the countryside and earn less than 2,300 yuan ($364) annually, according to data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics.
According to Hong, the government will attempt to initiate more effective programs to achieve the goal and includes the launching of education programs and garnering financial support in order to allow more people to aid in the endeavor.
Although China has vowed to improve the standard of living of its citizens, it has not shied away from the initiative to eradicate poverty outside its borders.
Speaking at a United Nations summit last month, Xi pledged an initial $2 billion to establish an assistance fund for developing nations. China was the first developing country to meet the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals target of reducing the population living in poverty by half ahead of the 2015 deadline, according to the Shanghai Daily Report.
Furthermore, in the past 15 years, the country has assisted 600 million people to rise out of poverty worldwide.