Xi: Now is time to win poverty war

President sets goal of assisting 30 million people within 3 years

President Xi Jinping has called on boosting the quality of poverty relief efforts as the country targets 30 million more people it plans to lift out of poverty in the coming three years.

The pressure on and difficulty of conducting relief missions are intense, as are the unsettled die-hard challenges they will face, Xi said at a symposium on Monday about poverty alleviation in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China.

At the symposium, held during his just concluded inspection tour in the province, Xi listened to briefings on poverty relief by officials at various levels, according to an official release of the symposium issued on Wednesday.

The symposium studied policies in the fight against poverty to be implemented during the next three years.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, sent Spring Festival greetings to the public and officials working at the forefront of poverty alleviation.

Steps should be taken to boost preparedness for various potential challenges at a time when problems such as bureaucracy and corruption still exist, Xi said.

A clear mind is needed to understand the difficulties ahead to win the war against poverty. One also is needed to realize the urgency in identifying and resolving demanding issues, Xi said.

Efforts to fight poverty must be maintained and the quality of poverty relief missions should be improved even as their aim targets the poorest areas to ensure substantial progress is made, Xi said.

The president put forward eight detailed requirements on the relief missions.

Officials, particularly high-ranking local leaders, should enhance poverty relief efforts and departments involved at the central level should research and formulate an action plan for the poverty fight, map out the timeline and roadmap for the fight over the coming three years and offer effective guidance, Xi said.

Goals and standards should be fulfilled to ensure all people living in poverty gain a better living standard by 2020, effectively eliminated poverty from all poor counties, Xi said.

The system for managing nationwide poverty relief missions should be reinforced and the assessment and evaluation procedures should constantly be improved in accordance with the progressing relief missions, Xi said.

Precision by the missions should be further improved and the management of funds should be perfected to make the relief missions transparent and clean, Xi said.

Discipline and supervision should be stepped up to tackle demanding issues such as irregular use of funds. Officials involved at various levels should be trained to master the ways to eradicate poverty and improve their capabilities in handling challenges during the poverty fight, Xi said.

Also, efforts should be geared up to better inspire the impoverished population and motivate and encourage them to fight poverty, Xi said.

In his review of the country's poverty relief missions, Xi said the fight against poverty enjoys unprecedented strength, scale and influence. He said it has achieved decisive progress.

Systems have been built regarding areas such as responsibilities, policies, funds and experts, supervision and assessment, Xi said.

A system of Chinese characteristics for eliminating poverty has been established to offer effective institutional guarantees for poverty relief and to offer Chinese wisdom and solutions for global relief efforts, Xi said

The major experiences China has acquired include upholding the leadership by the CPC, ensuring precision, increasing investment, involving social participation, conducting stringent checks and motivating the poor residents, Xi said.

Such experiences should be further updated and developed in the long run, Xi said.