China launches first National Poverty Alleviation Day

The State Council Information Office held a press conference on Tuesday to launch the first National Poverty Alleviation.

Official data showed the number of poor people in rural areas across China stood at nearly 99 million at the end of 2012. According to a standard adopted in 2011, rural people with an annual net income of about 337 US dollars or less are classified as poor. China's poverty line is equivalent to less than one US dollar a day and still lower than the World Bank level of 1.25 US dollars a day.

In January, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced a war against poverty. Li said China will relocate people living in inhospitable areas, nurture small towns, improve transportation infrastructure and give more fair development opportunities to the poor.