Database directs aid for poor

13th Five-Year Plan outlines goals to raise 70 million people out of poverty by 2020

China's top poverty alleviation department set a goal to lift 10 million people out of poverty in 2016 by establishing a database for the poor.

"We will establish a database for the poor in 2016 and help lift them out of poverty more efficiently and effectively," Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, said on Thursday.

"The database is fundamental for the government to launch poverty alleviation policies more precisely," Liu added.

Liu spoke at the 2015 National Conference on Poverty Alleviation and Development in Beijing, where officials from poverty alleviation offices from all of China's provinces had gathered.

Besides setting up the database, the office will establish provincial-level financial platforms to raise money to fight poverty and also build county-level resource distribution hubs to manage the funds.

"2016 is the opening year of China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) and we will write the guidelines for China to fight poverty in 2016, to fulfill the goal to lift more than 70 million people out of poverty by 2020," Liu added.

Poverty alleviation will be carried out from many perspectives, including improving education and carrying out financial plans in poverty-stricken areas, Liu said.

China has lifted around 100 million rural people of poverty since 2010, Liu said.

Xiang Deping, director of Wuhan University's China poverty alleviation development academy, said China's anti-poverty achievements have been recognized by the world.

"International organizations including UNDP and the World Bank are promoting China's experiences and introducing them to other developing countries," Xiang said.

The central government has placed great emphasis on the country's poverty alleviation efforts in the 13th Five-Year Plan.

On Dec 8, president Xi Jinping urged governments at all levels to beef up "precision" poverty relief measures as the country plans to lift all poor people out of poverty by 2020.

According to official numbers, more than 600 million Chinese have been lifted out of poverty in the past three decades, accounting for about 70 percent of the total number globally.