Top political advisor highlights targeted poverty relief in ethnic regions

China's top political advisor Yu Zhengsheng has called for "precise" poverty relief measures as the country plans to lift all its people out of poverty by 2020.

In a three day trip to Tujia-Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Xiangxi in central China's Hunan Province, Yu urged local authorities to sharpen their competitive edge by focusing on industries with local characteristics and seek innovation-driven development.

In the meantime, they must also protect the environment and pay attention to local infrastructure, medicare, pension and vocational eduction, so that people of all ethnic groups could "enjoy the fruits of reform and development."

China has vowed to lift over 10 million rural people out of poverty this year and all people out of poverty by 2020.

At the end of last year, there were still 70.17 million people in the countryside living under the country's poverty line of 2,300 yuan (376 U.S. dollars) in annual income, data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows.

Earlier this year, China floated the idea of a "precision" plan; a targeted approach to poverty alleviation rather than the previous "one size fits all."

This plan was confirmed following the creation of a database last year that recorded the basic information of of 88 million people -- all those living under the poverty line across in China.

Yu said local governments must step up precision measures to improve efficiency, adding that local Communist Party organs should be strengthened so that they could lead the people out of poverty. Endi