A SENIOR party leader, Mr Li Ruihuan, has called on Guangxi officials to make fighting poverty their prime task. The Politburo Standing Committee member said during an inspection tour of the border region that several million people there did not have enough food and clothing. Mr Li lamented the fact that a relatively large part of the region still remained poor. ''To help the poor regions eliminate poverty and lead them towards prosperity is what socialism should mean and what the communists are obliged to do,'' he said. Mr Li reassured the localities that the central Government would strive to help them through improvements in areas such as funding, technology and manpower. The party leader toured Beihai, Guilin, Nanning and Qinzhou during a 10-day trip. It coincided with fact-finding trips made by other Politburo standing members elsewhere in the country.
