THE number of rural Chinese below the poverty line has dropped to 70 million, accounting for only 7.8 per cent of the population in the countryside.
The latest figures from the State Statistics Bureau reveal the number of poor rural people fell from 80 million in 1992 to 70 million last year.
The rural poverty line was set at an income of 440 yuan (about HK$404) a year, based on figures such as minimum living costs, according to the bureau's survey of social and economic life in the countryside, which used a sample of 67,000 rural households nationwide.
Despite the reduction, the state still needs to step up its efforts if it is to wipe out poverty by the end of the century.
Xinhua (the New China News Agency) said yesterday it was imperative the number of poor people be reduced by an average of 10 million a year for the next six years.
Current problems in farming and soaring inflation have made it difficult for peasants to improve their living standards.
