China allocates $10 billion to fight rural poverty

BEIJING: China today allocated $10 billion to support the development of its poor regions where over 70 million people lived below the poverty line.

The Ministry of Finance ( MOF) said that more than 66 billion yuan ($10 billion) has been approved for local authorities, up over 40 per cent year on year.

The funds will be used to relocate rural households, help minorities, increase work relief and revive state-owned farms, an MOF statement said.

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said early this month that the government should reinforce capital and personnel support to achieve the annual target of poverty reduction.

The country aims to reduce the population in poverty by more than 10 million this year, part of an ambitious plan to completely eliminating poverty by 2020.

Despite China's double digit economic growth over the past decades, official estimates said there are still 70 million people.

China plans to lift them out of the poverty by 2020.