China debuts new gov't body to propel rural vitalization

BEIJING -- China unveiled a new government body for the promotion of rural vitalization on Thursday as the world's most populous country declared an end to absolute poverty, shifting its policy focus to further boosting rural areas.

The new national administration for rural vitalization is the successor to the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, which focused on overseeing China's poverty alleviation efforts.

The debut of the new administration came after China's announcement of "complete victory" in eradicating absolute poverty, marking the transition of the country's policy priority from poverty alleviation to comprehensively promoting rural vitalization.

A grand gathering was also held in Beijing on Thursday to mark the country's accomplishments in poverty alleviation and to honor its model poverty fighters.

Official data shows that the final 98.99 million impoverished rural residents living under the current poverty line have all been lifted out of poverty over the past eight years. All of the 832 impoverished counties and 128,000 impoverished villages have been removed from the poverty list.