China allocates more funding for poverty relief

China's central government has allocated another 30.7 billion yuan (about US$4.52 billion) in funding to help people living in poverty, the finance ministry said on June 12.

That has brought this year's total central government poverty relief funds to nearly 86.1 billion yuan, which has all been allocated at local levels, the Ministry of Finance said.

Up to 97.4 percent of the funding has gone to 22 provincial regions in the central and western parts of the country, the main battleground for poverty alleviation, said the ministry.

The central government has assigned 196.1 billion yuan of poverty relief funding over the past four years, representing annual average growth of 19.22 percent. This year's funding marks a 30.3 percent increase year on year.

The Chinese government has vowed to lift all impoverished citizens out of poverty by 2020 to build a moderately prosperous society. In 2016 alone, China helped 12.4 million rural residents move above the poverty line.

By the end of last year, there were 43.35 million people living in poverty in China.