Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held in November 2012, President Xi Jinping has made more than 30 domestic trips. Among them, poverty relief work has been a prominent focus of his tours.

Xi, at the Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum in Beijing last year, said eradicating poverty "is a common mission of human beings." The Chinese government has pledged to enact more policies to lift the country's 70 million poor people above the poverty line by 2020.

October 17 marks China's third National Poverty Relief Day this year. Here we take a look at what Xi has done and said in an effort to lift people out of poverty over the past four years.

  • Xi urges greater poverty-alleviation efforts

    Braving chilly weather around minus-10 degrees Celsius, Xi reached Fuping, an impoverished county in Hebei province a couple of days before the New Year. Nestled in steep mountains, Fuping is among China's most impoverished counties. It has an annual net per capita income of 2,400 yuan ($390).

    "The most arduous task facing China in completing the building of a moderately prosperous society is in rural areas, especially poverty-stricken regions," Xi said.

  • Leader keen to ensure government in tune with the public

    Xi carried out an inspection tour to Northwest China's Gansu province in 2013. Dingxi city and Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture are two areas known for their barren land and poor natural conditions in central Gansu.

    Xi said the central authorities attached high importance to poverty alleviation and to the development of areas inhabited by ethnic groups, assuring greater government support to help local people out of poverty.

  • Xi calls for targeted policies to fight poverty

    During a visit to the poverty-stricken south of Hunan, Xi said alleviating poverty in the region should be done with targeted policies, including improving agriculture and education.

    "Poverty alleviation plans should be based on real situations," Xi said. "It should be targeted at specific groups in specific situations and should avoid using loud slogans."

  • Xi checks up on quake victims

    President Xi Jinping visited the quake-hit area of Ludian county in Yunnan province, inquiring about the livelihoods of the quake victims in the winter.

    "I was very worried about how the relocation work was going, whether you had hot food, whether the children had schools to go to and if there were medical services available," he was quoted as saying.

    Xi urged authorities in Ludian, a poverty-stricken mountainous area in northern Yunnan, to combine reconstruction work with poverty relief efforts.

  • Xi stresses relief of poverty in rural areas

    Xi said he wanted to end poverty in old revolutionary base areas and improve local people's standard of living.

    "A well-off society will be incomplete if people in the old guerrilla base areas cannot shake off poverty," Xi said during a meeting with Party chiefs of 24 counties and cities from Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

  • Xi emphasizes better livelihoods on Guizhou province tour

    Xi stressed that poverty relief in underdeveloped rural areas was key to economic development nationwide.

    Xi made the remarks at a Communist Party of China symposium on poverty relief and economic and social development during the 2016-2020 period.

    Xi urged Guizhou to adopt a unique development path, different from both the nation's east and the west, and to catch up with the developed areas.

  • China pledges resolute measures to root out poverty by 2020

    Identifying poverty alleviation "an arduous task," Xi said at a meeting on poverty alleviation that "no single poor region nor an individual living in poverty will be left behind" when the country accomplishes the goal of "building a moderately prosperous society" by 2020.

    Xi said local governments and Party committees must place poverty alleviation at the top of their work agenda, and how this job is done will be the most important yardstick for gauging the performance of local leaders.

  • Xi orders China's developed east to better aid poor west

    Xi has urged developed regions in the east help their partner regions in the west better fight poverty at a national conference on poverty alleviation through east-west cooperation in Yinchuan, capital city of northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

    "There are still some 50 million Chinese struggling with poverty, and by 2020 they must all be lifted out of poverty. This is my top concern now," Xi said.

  • Respect, protect nature during development: Xi

    Xi said the protection of the ecosystem was "the most important foundation" of China's sustainable development during a tour of the northwestern province of Qinghai.

    He stressed that the region's ecosystem was its "biggest merit, responsibility and potential," adding that measures must be taken to ensure coordinated economic, social and environmental development.