Eradication of poverty is mission possible

The importance of lifting more than 70 million impoverished people out of poverty can never be overestimated, neither should the difficulties the country faces in achieving that goal in the next five years.

That explains why President Xi Jinping emphasized that the exact number of poverty-stricken people must be made clear and so must the reasons why they are living in destitute conditions. Xi made the remarks at a meeting on poverty alleviation at the weekend.

Xi said that 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. The president also required that local leaders make a pledge to fulfill this task.