The central government is raising the rural poverty line. The threshold will nearly double as part of efforts to eradicate poverty in the next decade, in a move that also reflects the country's rising wealth and the erosion of consumer purchasing power.
The definition of rural poverty will cover people with annual per capita incomes of 2,300 yuan (HK$2,810) or less, up 80 per cent from the threshold of 1,274 yuan introduced last year. In 2009 the poverty line was 1,196 yuan.
The move could increase the number of people officially regarded as poor in the world's largest developing economy to about 100 million.
The new threshold is closer to the United Nations' definition of US$1.25 a day, which is equal to 2,910 yuan a year at the current exchange rate.
The announcement came at a top-level meeting to finalise a 10-year poverty alleviation programme, to end in 2020, which was attended by President Hu Jintao , Premier Wen Jiabao and other Politburo members.
Since he came to power in 2002, Hu has advocated the building of a 'harmonious society' to help those left behind by breakneck growth in urban areas by directing investment towards rural areas in the west, centre and northeast and increasing handouts to the needy.
After the phenomenal economic growth of the past three decades, material life for the general population has never been better, with more than 300 million people lifted out of poverty, an achievement hailed by the World Bank as the biggest poverty reduction effort in history and the country's greatest contribution to world development.