Chinese vice premier demands poverty relief for ethnic minorities

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang called for intensified efforts to lift the country's ethnic minorities out of poverty.

Poverty reduction for ethnic minorities is a difficult and prioritized task and the government should make more efforts to help the impoverished people, said Wang during a visit to Yi ethnic group in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

He asked officials to take precisely targeted and tailored actions to improve the living and working conditions for ethnic minorities.

At the end of 2014, China had 70 million people living below the nation's poverty line of 2,300 yuan (about 354 U.S. dollars) in annual income, almost all of whom live in the countryside.

China aims to eliminate poverty by 2020 when its 13th Five-Year Plan is completed. Endi