China lifts 740 mn rural poor out of poverty since 1978: Official data

China's poverty relief achievements have contributed more than 70% to global poverty alleviation work in the past 40 years

China has lifted 740 million people in rural areas out of poverty from 1978 to 2017, roughly 19 million each year, an official data stated.

The poverty ratio in rural areas dropped 94.4 percentage points during the same time period with an average annual decrease of 2.4 percentage points, the state-run National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

As per the data, China's poverty relief achievements have contributed more than 70 per cent to global poverty alleviation work in the past 40 years.

The average annual income of rural residents in impoverished areas rose an average of 10.4 per cent each year from 2012 to 2017, up 2.5 percentage points from the average for rural residents, the state-run Xinhua reported quoting the NBS data.

Over the past five years since President Xi Jinping came to power, over 68 million people were lifted out of poverty in China, the report said.

The country aims to further lift 10 million people out of poverty this year and eradicate poverty by 2020, it said.

China recently released guidelines on winning the battle against poverty in the next three years in order to prepare the nation for eradicating poverty by 2020.

The guidelines made guaranteed food and clothing to impoverished people and nine-year compulsory education for children from poor families. It also made guaranteed basic medical facilities to the impoverished.

People having annual income below 2,300 yuan ($37.3) are defined as living below the poverty line in China.