The government is hopeful it can finish stitching together a safety net to guarantee minimum living standards for the poorest of rural poor by the end of this year, according to a senior official.
Vice-Minister of Civil Affairs Li Liguo said in an interview with the government website gov.cn that it would expand a subsidy scheme by the end of this year to guarantee a minimum living standard for rural residents not covered by social security schemes.
Since urban dwellers already had access to such support, all residents living below the poverty line would - in theory - qualify for living subsidies by year-end.
The rural support scheme covered 31 provinces and municipalities by the end of June, benefiting 20.68 million people.
'Now that the scheme has been set up in 31 provinces and municipalities, we are hopeful that we can include all rural poor in the minimum living standard scheme this year. We also require that the rural minimum living standard subsidies should reach the intended households by this year,' Mr Li said.
Beijing has already despatched 3 billion yuan in funds to local governments to help poor localities finance the scheme. Local governments would foot most of the bills for the programme, he said.
