Beijing — Vice-Premier Wang Yang asked officials at all levels on March 28 to make more efforts to accomplish an annual target of poverty alleviation.

The task of lifting more than 10 million rural residents out of poverty this year will be split and assigned to individual officials, said Wang at a State Council meeting on poverty reduction.

Those who fail to fulfill their tasks will be held responsible and those who embezzle poverty relief funds will be severely punished, said the vice-premier.

Wang asked officials to target the impoverished in a more precise way to increase the efficiency of poverty reduction.

At the end of 2014, China had 70.17 million people in the countryside living below the nation’s poverty line of 2,300 yuan ($354) in annual income.

China aims to eliminate poverty by 2020 when its 13th Five-Year Plan is completed.