Xi highlights rural poverty relief

President Xi Jinping helps make the dough for ciba, a glutinous rice delicacy that is a local Spring Festival favorite, during a visit to the village of Shenshan, Jiangxi province, on Tuesday. LAN HONGGUANG / XINHUA

President Xi Jinping targeted poverty alleviation efforts when he made a pre-Spring Festival visit to Jinggangshan in Jiangxi province.

The city was home to the first rural base set up by China's revolutionary forces nearly 90 years ago.

"Measures and work to alleviate and eliminate poverty must be precise. Policies should be made according to the (needs of) households and individuals," Xi said while visiting households in the village of Shenshan on Tuesday.

He began a three-day trip to the province on Monday and also visited Ji'an and Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi.

It was the president's third visit to Jinggangshan after trips in 2006 and 2008.

Thirteen households out of the 54 in Shenshan are still mired in poverty.

Alleviation efforts should be "spot on" and address the root causes, Xi said.

The president visited the home of villager Zuo Xiufa, who runs a household business producing arts and crafts products from bamboo.

Xi endorsed the family's efforts to prosper from bamboo and said he hoped the business would succeed.

He said that as China strives to achieve moderate prosperity, the old revolutionary base areas should move ahead simultaneously.

"No one should drop out," he told a huge crowd of villagers.

Xi triggered applause when he said the Party and the government would help everyone. He also delivered greetings for the upcoming Year of the Monkey.

Addressing provincial officials at a meeting, Xi called for the country's industrial structure to be optimized and upgraded.

He referred to measures such as nurturing emerging industries, developing modern service sectors, eliminating outdated production capacity and giving resources to new industries.

Zhu Lijia, a professor of public management at the China National School of Administration, said, "Poverty alleviation will be the most important of the top priorities in the next five years, otherwise expected moderate prosperity nationwide will be a blank check, or an empty promise."

Reform measures should be categorized before being announced, and while past policies focused on groups, they should now target individuals, Zhu said.