BEIJING — China has allocated 5.5 billion yuan ($866 million) this year to resettle 916,500 people from poor areas with harsh environments in an attempt to free them of poverty, the country’s top economic planner said on Nov 12.

More efforts have been made in 2015 to make water safer in rural areas and improve the rural electric network and infrastructure construction, Shi Zihai, spokesperson with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told a press conference.

Since 2001, the central government has spent 36.3 billion yuan on resettlements. Since 2010, China has spent 23.1 billion yuan on resettling 3.94 million citizens in 17 provincial regions, according to the NDRC.

There are still about 10 million poor Chinese living in mountains and deserts who need to be resettled in the next five years, it added.