Job creation plays key role in fight against poverty

China has made progress in poverty alleviation by providing employment opportunities, senior officials said at a news conference in Beijing on Thursday.

The number of migrant workers from poverty-stricken areas or regions previously listed as impoverished rose to about 29.7 million by the end of last month from 15.3 million in 2016, figures from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security showed. It was also up 8.9 percent year-on-year.

Li Zhong, vice-minister of human resources and social security, told the news conference, which was organized by the State Council Information Office, that creating more jobs for impoverished people and encouraging them to find jobs has been the most effective way to lift them out of poverty.

"We've stressed the employment of these impoverished people by perfecting employment policies for them and organizing training courses to improve their working skills," he said.

Li said over 90 percent of the 90 million people in China who had been listed as impoverished have received support from the government, financially or through various policies.

For example, almost 33,000 workshops were set up in poverty-stricken areas nationwide in the past five years and they produced 410,000 team leaders, laying a solid foundation for the sustainable development of the areas.

Li said the government will step up employment-driven poverty alleviation work as the fight to eliminate absolute poverty by the end of the year nears the finish line.