China's poor, who make up about 5% of a population of nearly 1.4 billion, live mostly in the countryside, and earn less than 2,300 yuan a year. Image: asianews.it
China will relocate more than two million people this year from poverty-stricken communities to more developed urban areas as part of a wide-ranging plan to tackle poverty.
The mass relocation of people is a strategy targeted at lifting 10 million citizens out of poverty by 2020.
Some of the villagers will move to areas with better social services, such as schools and hospitals, while others in remote areas will move to places with better roads and water supply, according to Liu Yongfu, head of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.
The numbers would be stepped up gradually and may eventually hit 3 million.
"We will talk it over with the localities and accumulate some experience, after that we will increase step-by-step," Liu said.
Despite two decades of rapid economic growth, poverty remains a huge issue in China, mainly in rural areas, where a lack of jobs drives out adults, leaving behind children and the elderly, often with limited access to schools and healthcare.
A primary school called "Aili Hope School" in Song County, Luoyang, Henan Province. Image: sohu news
China's poor, who make up about 5% of a population of nearly 1.4 billion, live mostly in the countryside, and earn less than 2,300 yuan ($362) a year, government and state media say.
In March Premier Li Keqiang promised a boost of 43% in funding for poverty relief programs. Last October, the State Council said China aimed to lift all its 70 million poor above the poverty line by 2020.
In December. Li urged local authorities to provide housing, healthcare, schooling and employment for relocated citizens.
