Xi urges solid efforts to win battle against poverty

BEIJING — President Xi Jinping called for enhanced and solid efforts to win the battle against poverty Monday.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, gave the instruction ahead of the fourth National Poverty Relief Day, which falls on Oct 17.

All-out effort should be put towards poverty relief, as it is the toughest of all battles, said Xi. Remarkable progress has been made since the CPC Central Committee made a solemn promise to lift all rural people out of poverty by 2020, the president added.

Xi praised outstanding figures in China's battle with poverty, saying that their fighting spirit needs to be celebrated and spread nationwide to encourage concerted efforts in poverty reduction.

Xi's remarks came as a meeting was held in Beijing Monday to honor people who have made great contributions to poverty relief.

Premier Li Keqiang also congratulated them for their achievements and asked authorities to support their work and gather more strength from all of society for the goal of building a moderately prosperous society by 2020.

In a written instruction, Li said that China's battle against poverty has entered the final stage, and authorities at all levels should make greater efforts to break development bottlenecks and strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of poverty-reduction work.

Vice Premier Wang Yang, who attended the meeting celebrating the poverty relief role models, stressed the need to pool wisdom and efforts to make solid progress in targeted poverty-relief work.

China is closing in on its ambitious goal of achieving a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020, with the baseline task of lifting all people out of poverty.

As of the end of 2016, there were still 43.35 million people in China living below the country's poverty line of 2,300 yuan ($344) of annual income, accounting for about 3 percent of China's population.