China Ups Poverty Threshold

China is to almost double its standard for defining the poverty line of farmers to benefit at least 100 million people as it aims to build itself into an overall well-off society in the coming decade.

The central government will raise the threshold to 2,300 yuan (US$361) in terms of the annual net income of farmers, up 92 percent from that of 2009.

A government white paper on poverty reduction released earlier this month showed the country had reduced its poverty-stricken population in rural regions to 26.88 million at the end of 2010 from 94.22 million a decade ago.

The new poverty line will make at least 100 million people eligible for government anti-poverty subsidies, according to experts.

Speaking at a national poverty-alleviation meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday, President Hu Jintao said poverty-reduction was a significant task.

After more than 30 years of reform and opening-up, Hu said China's poverty alleviation task no longer concerns just solving food and clothing issues. Rather, it is about speeding up poverty reduction, improving the ecological environment, strengthening developmental capabilities and narrowing wealth gaps.

Hu called on members of the Communist Party of China and the whole society to carry out poverty-alleviation work with greater resolve, intensified efforts and more effective actions and measures in order to achieve the target of building a comprehensively well-off society by 2020.

"Eradicating poverty, improving people's livelihoods, and prosperity for all is the fundamental requirement of socialism," Hu said.

He said China had made extraordinary achievements in poverty alleviation since its launch of reform and opening-up more than 30 years ago. The success had contributed to greater economic development, political stability, national unity and social harmony.

"By 2020, our general target is to ensure the nation's impoverished will no longer need to worry about food and clothing. Their access to compulsory education, basic medical care, and housing will also be ensured," Hu said.

"The annual net income growth of farmers in poverty-stricken regions will be higher than the national average by 2020. Public services for them will also near the national level. The current trend of widening rich-poor gap will be reversed," Hu said.

Premier Wen Jiabao told the meeting that raising the poverty line was "an important measure to enhance poverty alleviation by substantially raising the poverty line so that more low-income people can be included in the country's poverty reduction programs."

He added: "Local governments in more economically developed regions can set even higher poverty lines."