Over 23 million lifted out of poverty in China last year

Over 23 million people were brought above the poverty line in China last year as about 100 million people from rural areas moved to cities for work.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said today last year saw some 23.39 million rural dwellers edge above the poverty line, currently set at 2,300 yuan (about USD 365.83) in annual net income per capita.
The decrease brought the total number of impoverished rural residents to 98.99 million by the end of 2012, the data showed.
Rural poverty has been one of the major hurdles for the world's second-largest economy and most populated country which according to World Bank data still has about 150 million people.

China sees urbanisation as a way out to reduce poverty as cities provide better jobs and living standards to people.
According to the latest figures, China's migrant workers population, the main sources for China's cheap labour, has grown to 262.61 last year registering a 3.9 per cent.

The number of rural migrant workers increased 3.9 per cent to 262.61 million by the end of 2012, accounting for 19.39 per cent of the country's total population, the NBS said.
Meanwhile a new survey has revealed inadequate and unbalanced pension distribution in the country raising concerns.
Nearly 39.1 per cent of the 2,000 people surveyed by an official think tank complained that pensions are too little to meet their living needs.

The survey by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said only 17 percent of the respondents said they can live off their pensions, the survey showed.
Elderly people in rural areas strongly complained about the rural endowment insurance system, as 78.9 per cent of insurance buyers in the survey said the pension could not meet their living needs, while 56 per cent of their urban counterparts complained about the same problem.
In comparison, only 3.8 per cent of government staff have the same complaint.
"Different feelings from endowment insurance participants reflect the differentiated pension welfare system," the report published in the official media said.

However, 76.4 per cent of those surveyed said they are satisfied with the country's endowment insurance systems, it said.