Southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region reduced the
needy population, whose yearly income is below 400 yuan (US$50),
from 1.5 million to 860,000 during the past five years.
At the on-going Fourth Session of Guangxi's Tenth People's
Congress, regional chairman Lu
Bing said apart from the 640,000 people who were lifted from
the poverty line, Guangxi also helped raise the earnings of 3.24
million people with low incomes.
The official said Guangxi kept increasing its investment in
poverty-stricken areas during the past five years.
The infrastructure construction in the autonomous region has
contributed greatly to the poverty alleviation.
Lu said Guangxi built 41,200 kilometers of roads connecting the
poverty-stricken villages and 760,000 methane-generating pits for
the villagers.
With the five-year efforts, the average yearly income of the
people in Guangxi's 28 key poverty-reduction counties kept
increasing by 6 percent every year, reaching more than 1600 yuan
(US$200).
(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2006)