Premier Li Keqiang said that more money should be used to mitigate poverty and further improve people’s livelihoods in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, which has 2.46 million people living below the poverty line.

Premier Li also said more central government support will be given to poverty-stricken ethnic regions. He spoke after joining a panel discussion with deputies of the National People’s Congress from Guangxi on March 6.

It was Premier Li’s second participation in two consecutive years in an NPC discussion with the Guangxi delegation. He was elected by the People’s Congress of Guangxi as an NPC deputy in January.

Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee, with Xi Jinping as its core, Guangxi performed well in major economic indicators in the past five years, Premier Li said.

He said the positive trend in economic development should be backed up with reform, opening-up and innovations. He called on the region to open its door wider and integrate with the Belt and Road Initiative.

The innovation-driven strategy should be further carried out to cultivate new growth momentum by promoting Made in China 2025 and the spirit of craftsmanship to make China a strong country in manufacturing, he added.

This year is the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the autonomous region. The region’s GDP rose by 7.3 percent last year to surpass 2 trillion yuan ($316 billion) for the first time, said Chen Wu, chairman of the region’s government.

Last year, the rolls of Guangxi’s population living in poverty were reduced by 900,000, according to the Guangxi Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. Local government spent 25.6 billion yuan to help lift them out of poverty.

Also on March 6, three other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee joined discussions.

Wang Yang joined discussions with members from ethnic groups in the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. He said key work should be done to win a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in ethnic regions and completing targeted poverty alleviation.

Wang Huning joined deputies from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions. He said “one country, two systems” should be fully carried out and the deputies should play a supporting role in better safeguarding the prosperity and stability of the two regions.

Han Zheng joined deputies from Shaanxi province and called for achieving higher-quality, more efficient, fairer and more sustainable development for the province. He also called for firm efforts to deepen reform and opening-up.