Chinese leaders urge continued fight against poverty

BEIJING - Chinese leaders have called for continued efforts to fight poverty as Friday marked the country's first Poverty Relief Day.

In instructions given during a teleconference on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping asked authorities to mobilize all social forces to join the war against poverty as the most arduous task in building a well-off society is in the impoverished regions.

China should keep innovating and take differentiated and targeted steps to deliver more people from hunger, he said.

Although China lifted around 660 million people out of poverty from 1978 to 2010, some 82 million people remain in poverty in rural areas as of the end of 2013, according to official data.

Rural people with an annual net income per capita of 2,300 yuan ($374.54) or less are classified as poor under standards adopted in 2011.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stressed the task of relieving poverty has entered a new stage that requires deeper reforms and innovative mechanisms.

"We should bring together social support to crack the hard nut and win the war," he said.

Vice-premier Wang Yang, who heads China's anti-poverty work, said during the conference that local authorities must foster diversified social platforms to recruit more help.