Poverty eliminated in another 85 Chinese counties

BEIJING - China announced Wednesday another 85 counties have been officially taken off the country's list of impoverished areas, marking further steps toward its goal of eradicating poverty by 2020.

The announcement, made by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, came on the fifth National Poverty Relief Day, which falls on Oct 17 every year.

This is the largest number of counties to shake off poverty since China vowed in 2015 to win the tough battle against poverty, bringing the total number of counties removed from the poverty list since then to 153.

A county is removed from the list if less than 2 percent of its population lives below the poverty line, defined with a per capita annual income of 2,300 yuan (around $333) at 2010 prices. In the country's less-developed western regions, if less than 3 percent of the people living in poverty, the county will be removed from the list.