Hebei declares clear of poor counties

The last poverty-stricken counties or districts in North China's Hebei province, which neighbors Beijing, were lifted out of poverty in February, meaning the province has accomplished its overall poverty alleviation goal, a notice by the government said on Saturday.

The major standard to be met was cutting the incidence of poverty to below 2 percent, according to Hebei's Poverty Alleviation and Development Office.

The 13 counties, including Longhua, Kangbao, Zhangbei and Fuping, as well as Zhaojiapeng district in Zhuolu county, have met the standard and the poverty label in those places can be removed, the notice said.

The counties are in the cities of Zhangjiakou, Chengde and Baoding.

The policies supporting the counties' development will continue to consolidate the achievements and prevent a return to poverty or having new cases of poverty arise, the notice said.

Hebei has suffered heavy poverty. In the past, it had 62 poor counties, with nearly 5 million people living below the poverty line, according to a report by Hebei Daily.

Impoverished areas were mainly in the Yanshan Mountains and Taihangshan Mountains, as well as in the Heilonggang Basin. All have difficult natural conditions for development.

In the past years, the province has undertaken a series of supporting measures to help such areas relieve poverty, including promotion of industrial development and employment.

Last year, more than 365,000 people in the province, with a population of more than 75 million, rose out of poverty in 1,448 poor villages.

To lift all poor people out of poverty is one of the country's goals this year. As of last month, nine places, including Hebei, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Chongqing and the Tibet autonomous region, lifted all their poverty-stricken counties above the line, People's Daily reported.