By IANS,
Beijing : The Chinese government Tuesday decided to raise its definition of the poverty line for country’s farmers as it aims to build itself into an overall well-off society in the coming decade.
The threshold is to be raised to 2,300 yuan (over $360) in terms of net annual income of farmers, up 92 percent from the standard set in 2009, Xinhua reported.
President Hu Jintao, while speaking at a national poverty-alleviation meeting held Tuesday, said that poverty-reduction is a significant task.
Hu called on all members of the Communist Party of China and the whole society to concretely carry out poverty-alleviation work with greater resolve, intensified efforts, and more effective actions and measures in order to achieve the target of building a comprehensively well-off society by 2020.
Hu said that China made extraordinary achievements in poverty alleviation since its launch of the reform and opening-up policy over 30 years ago.
The success contributed to greater economic development, political stability, national unity and social harmony in the country, he added.
“By 2020, our general target is to ensure the nation’s impoverished will no longer need to worry about food and clothing. Their access to compulsory education, basic medical care, and housing will also be ensured,” Hu said.
“The annual net income growth of the farmers in poverty-stricken regions will be higher than the national average by 2020,” Hu said.