Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has said that China will ""basically eradicate poverty"" by 2020.

Wen told a panel meeting of the National People's Congress that the State Council is drafting a new ten-year poverty-reduction plan, in which the current poverty line of 1,196 yuan per year will be raised.
According to The Xinhua, Wen said to a group of NCP deputies from Gansu, (one of the poorest region of China) that nation will intensify its poverty alleviation efforts through aids and development, focusing on large areas of destitute population.
According to the United Nations' standard of one dollar per person each day, China still has 150 million people under the poverty line.
Wen pointed out that lack of water was the bottleneck for Gansu's social-economic development. He urged the province to expand the use of water conservancy technology.
He also urged the province to coordinate economic development with environmental protection, and also to reverse environmental degradation in Dunhuang, city with world cultural heritage threatened by desertification.
(Source: dailyindia.com)