Economic Daily:

Poverty alleviation work in the extremely poor areas has long been drawing public attention. In 2017, General Secretary Xi Jinping set out clear requirements for winning the battle against deep-rooted poverty. Would you please give us a brief introduction to the achievements you have made up to now and your future arrangement? Thank you.

Liu Yongfu:

The issue of extreme poverty has been taking shape for thousands of years. The causes of the problem are complicated. Despite several rounds of poverty alleviation previously, we failed to lift the extremely poor areas out of poverty. This remains a daunting task in our battle against poverty. Those areas of extreme poverty should not lag behind in China's overall poverty alleviation efforts. 

First, we must adopt a clear approach. In accordance with the instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, the central government provides strong support in the fight against poverty in the three regions and three prefectures identified as being affected by extreme poverty, namely Tibet, the Tibetan ethnic areas in Sichuan, southern Xinjiang, Liangshan in Sichuan, Nujiang in Yunnan, and Linxia in Gansu. Meanwhile, each province is seeking to tackle its extreme poverty issue within its own geographical jurisdiction. All the central government departments are required to provide support for poverty alleviation in extremely poor areas.

Second, we must identify which are the extremely poor areas most needing help. Apart from the aforementioned three regions and three prefectures, there are many other pockets of extreme poverty, such as Zhaotong in Yunnan and Bijie in Guizhou, which need to be identified and assessed by local provincial governments. Third, we must expand support for poverty alleviation in the extremely poor areas, with greater efforts being made by local communities, as well as greater allocation of personnel and budgetary input by central and provincial governments.

The implementation of a three-year action plan for poverty alleviation in the extremely poor areas has been progressing ahead of schedule. Up to now, nearly 80% of the planned funding has been made available, while we still have over a year to implement the plan in its entirety. Last year, the number of poor people in the three regions and three prefectures affected by extreme poverty fell from 3.05 million to 1.72 million, with 1.33 million people being able to escape from their chronic poverty. Going forward, we will continue focusing on our poverty alleviation work related to the extremely poor areas with as much care and intensity as ever. A time limit will be set for the fight against poverty under the supervision of relevant authorities in some localities where the implementation is deemed to be falling behind schedule. Thank you. 

Zhao Jiangtao:

Thanks for your careful attention and attendance today. The press conference is hereby concluded. Thank you all.

Translated and edited by Chen Xia, Zhang Jiaqi, Zhu Bochen, Zhang Rui, Cui Can, Mi Xingang, Gong Yingchun, Li Jingrong, Li Xiao, He Shan, Huang Shan, Zhang Junmian, Yuan Fang, Fan Junmei, Li Huiru, Wang Yanfang, Geoffrey Murray. In case of any dispute over a discrepancy, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.