Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua, who is head of the State Council Leading Group on Poverty Alleviation and Development, called for intensified efforts to win the battle against poverty, at a meeting on April 24 in Beijing.

The meeting discussed solving problems in the work of ensuring basic living needs of poor populations and their access to compulsory education, basic medical services, and safe housing.

Hu said solid efforts should be made to solve the major problems in poverty alleviation work and establish a long-term poverty-relief mechanism.

Thorny problems found in the work of guaranteeing poor people’s basic needs should be tackled through enhanced coordination among different departments and specified working standards and supporting policies. Local authorities should play a leading role in reducing poverty, and the allocation of funds and resources should be coordinated.

In addition, efforts should be intensified to fight extreme poverty, and organize departments involved to review their previous poverty relief work. Follow-up assistance should be strengthened for people who were relocated from extremely poor areas. Also, cooperation on poverty relief between eastern and western regions and targeted poverty alleviation should be carried out.