Poverty Relief High on China's 2016-2020 Gov't Agenda, Says President Xi

China has achieved the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target of poverty reduction by 2015 and will continue to lift the country's remaining population of 70 million in impoverished areas out of poverty in the next five years, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum in Beijing on Friday.

"With the joint effort made by the Chinese government, all sectors of the society, government officials and the public in the poverty-stricken areas, as well as the international community, China has lifted more than 600 million people out of poverty and achieved the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. This makes China the first developing country to have met the MDGs target of poverty reduction. China has made an important contribution to the global poverty reduction cause," said Xi.

China will have to lift the remaining 70 million plus people out of poverty in the next five years, which is an important step in implementing the post-2015 Development Agenda, he said.

Xi said China is now taking a strings of effective and targeted measures to reduce poverty.

"We stress high precision in our poverty relief work. Authorities should have precisely targeted population, precise project arrangement, precise allocation of funds, precise implementation of policies to every household, precise deployment of personnel and precise effect of poverty reduction. We must make sure that every benefit included in the policies will be delivered to the targeted population," said Xi.