China to relocate over 2 mln poor people

BEIJING -- China plans to relocate more than 2 million impoverished people to less disadvantaged areas this year, in the latest effort to deliver on the government's target of eliminating poverty by 2020.

Many poor people live in harsh conditions or fragile environments. The relocation will help them seek a better life, Liu Yongfu, head of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, told a press briefing Tuesday.

Some of the people will be relocated to towns and counties with mature public services so they can access education, medical services and jobs more easily. Some will move to economic development zones or industrial parks, and at least one person of each family will be offered vocational training, Liu said.

The rest will be relocated to places near roads or sources of water, he said.

Despite China's stellar economic growth over the past decades, the country still had 70 million people living below the poverty line of 2,300 yuan ($353) in annual income by 2010 price standards last year.

According to Liu, the relocation of the two million people is only the beginning of a more ambitious plan that will eventually relocate a total of 10 million people.