China has pledged to relocate over 2 million residents of poverty-stricken areas in 2016, marking the beginning of an anti-poverty campaign that is expected to bring new growth points to the country's slowing economy.
"The campaign to eliminate poverty is an important part of economic and social development and will not be impacted by the downturn in the economic situation," Liu Yongfu, head of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, said at a news conference on Tuesday.
2016, the first year of the relocation campaign, will see over 2 million people relocated from their homes in poverty-stricken areas by year-end, according to Liu.
"Eliminating poverty will require high expenditures, but it will also produce new drive for economic growth. A project like relocation, which requires an investment of some 600 billion yuan ($92 billion), will help relieve over-capacity in the steel and cement industries," Liu said. He added that domestic demand will also see a high marginal benefit created by thousands of families being lifted out of poverty.
Residents of poverty-stricken areas are encouraged to move to places with career training opportunities, employment, and basic provision of transportation and water, the official said.
The relocation campaign has determined that both insufficiency of living conditions and environmental degradation due to development have made 10 million people eligible for relocation, Liu added.
China has vowed to eliminate poverty by 2020, though in 2015 the country still had 70 million people living below the poverty line of 2,300 yuan in annual income by 2010 price standards, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
