The numbers come from the "Report of the Development of an Overall Well-off Society (2006)," China's first blue book to be published on building an overall well off society, Beijing Evening News reports.

The report reveals there are 26 million needy people in China's countryside. Another 22 million living in cities subsist below minimum subsistence levels, or the poverty line. These 48 million people account for 3.7% of the total population in China.

According to international standards, however, the needy refer to those whose personal daily expenses average below $1.

The World Bank estimates about 135 million, or 10%, of Chinese live below the international poverty line. These people are the key group China should show concern for in building an overall well-off society.