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China UPDATED: 16:49, May 16, 2006 China's poverty reduction a harder job http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200605/16/eng20060516_266193.html While the 20-year poverty-reduction efforts have greatly reduced the number of impoverished population, China is challenged with even heavier poverty-relief tasks, said experts attending the 1st Form on Sustainable Development Strategy in Chinese Poverty-stricken Regions, held in Tianjin Municipality from May 13 to May 14. China currently has more than 23 million rural residents struggling under poverty line, on top of nearly 50 million on the verge of adequate food and clothing as well as 28 million urban poor. Therefore there are still 100 million people need to shake off poverty, said Tian Ruizhang, vice chairman of Chinese Association of Poverty Alleviation and Development. According to the poverty line of US $ 1 a day set by the United Nations and the World Bank, China's impoverished population is likely to break 200 million, so the country's poverty-reduction task is getting even heavier, one reason being increased difficulty in doing the job. On the one hand, most of the 23 million rural poverty-stricken population are living in areas with bad natural conditions and ecological environment, and their capability and education level are relatively low. On the other hand, the gap between the urban and the rural, the eastern and western regions and the rich and the poor is expanding, said Tian. When setting poverty standard in 1985, the upper limit for improvised farmers was 200 yuan, or 50 percent of the averaged national level; in 2005 the line was raised to 683 yuan, but only accounting for 21 percent of the national average (3,255 yuan). In poorer areas with worse natural conditions, people more tend to pursue short-term interests while neglecting ecological construction and resource protection. This inevitably leads to deteriorated environment and people become even poorer, thus forming a vicious circle at a lower level, said Li Yining, head of the Development and Research Institute of Poverty-Stricken Areas, Peking University. To root out poverty, experts say, China must follow the scientific outlook on development by balancing immediate and long-term interests, social and ecological returns so as to form a virtuous circle and achieve sustainable development of regional economy, society, resource and environment. By People's Daily Online Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved
