Guizhou lifts 1.2 mln people out of poverty in 2017

GUIYANG - A total of 1.2 million people were lifted out of poverty last year in southwest China's Guizhou Province, which is at the forefront of the country's anti-poverty campaign.

The province relocated 763,000 people from their uninhabitable homes, renovated dilapidated houses for 200,000 households, and provided subsidies for 830,000 poor students in 2017, said acting governor Chen Yiqin, while delivering a government work report Friday at the provincial people's congress.

During the past five years, Guizhou lifted 6.7 million people out of poverty, the most among a provincial region.

The proportion of people living below the poverty line dropped from 26.8 percent to less than 8 percent over that period.

China has set 2020 as the target to finish building a moderately prosperous society and completely eradicate poverty.