Helping people to help themselves

By the end of last year, 43 million impoverished people were living in China's rural areas, after 55 million people were lifted above the poverty line between 2012 and last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

According to the State Council Leading Group Office for Poverty Alleviation and Development, from 2013 to 2016, the number of people living in poverty fell from 99 million to 43.36 million, and more than 10 million people will be lifted out of poverty this year.

Thirteen million people have been lifted above the poverty line in each of the past five years. From 1986 to 2000, the figure was about 6.4 million in total, while it was a combined 6.7 million from 2001 to 2010.