China to remove poverty by 2020: PM

By IANS,

Beijing : China aims to eradicate poverty in the next 10 years by focusing on the country’s destitute population, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said.

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Wen said Sunday the country will intensify its poverty alleviation efforts through aids and development, People’s Daily reported Monday.

China’s State Council is drafting a new 10-year poverty-reduction plan (2011-2020), in which the country’s poverty line of 1,196 yuan per year (about $0.5 a day) will be “greatly raised”, Wen said during the ongoing session of parliament – the National People’s Congress.

According to the UN’s standard of $1.25 per person each day, China still has 150 million people under the poverty line.

China’s population was 1.3 billion in 2009.