Office steps up efforts to prevent people falling back into poverty

The State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development has vowed to ramp up efforts to monitor people struggling to stay above the country's poverty line as China enters the final stretch of its poverty relief campaign.

A study launched by the office last year found that about 5 million people were at risk of falling back into poverty. This year, the office said, about 300,000 people have been added to that list.

The office said it will further optimize monitoring work to improve the poverty relief information system.

Ou Qingping, deputy head of the office, told a news conference on Wednesday it will target families that have shaken off poverty but have unstable incomes and households with per capita disposable income below 1.5 times the national poverty line.

China's poverty line is around 4,000 yuan, with the exact amount adjusted from place to place in line with purchasing power parity.

Attention will also be paid to families whose expenses have substantially exceeded their incomes due to sickness, disabilities, disasters and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ou said, as well as families whose incomes have fallen sharply.