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China to raise poverty line to 1,500 yuan

By Zhao Tingting (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-04-12 13:56

China may raise its poverty line from an annual per capita income of 1,196 yuan to 1,500 yuan, the China Business News reported Tuesday.

Officials from the State Council's Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development said that the plan has been submitted to the State Council, China's Cabinet, for approval.

In 1985, China set the poverty line at an annual income of 200 yuan per capita. That standard has grown 500 percent over the past 24 years to 1,196 yuan in 2009. China's GDP grew 42 times – from 778 billion yuan to 30 trillion yuan – during the same period.

China's rural poor population was down to 26.88 million at the end of 2010. That's 9.09 million less than in 2009, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.