Continuous effort needed to solve child malnutrition in countryside, official says

Tackling poor nutrition among rural children is a crucial part of China's sweeping campaign to eradicate extreme poverty by the end of 2020, a senior official said on Thursday.

Qu Tianjun, an official at the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, said the country's fight against extreme poverty has entered a new stage, but he stressed that malnutrition in the poorest regions will not disappear on its own.

"It entails long-term, continuous input," he said, adding that he hopes charitable organizations and enterprises will also contribute to the fight.

Qu was speaking at an annual conference in Beijing that marked the 10th anniversary of a program launched by China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation.

The program has provided 51 million meals and built 1,748 school kitchens to benefit children from impoverished families in 14 provinces and autonomous regions, according to the foundation. It has so far benefited 936,000 students.

A total of 310 million yuan ($44.6 million) has been donated to the program in the past decade, with 70 percent of that coming from the public, it said.

Enterprises including Yum Brands, Walmart and PepsiCo have also contributed to the program.