China ups poverty relief efforts as more migrant workers return to work

More impoverished migrant workers had found employment in other parts of China by the end of May compared with last year's total, as the country continues efforts to win the battle against poverty by 2020, official data showed.

As of May 31, some 27.51 million poor migrant workers from 25 provincial-level regions had left their hometowns for work, accounting for 100.79 percent of the total last year, according to the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

In 52 key poverty-stricken counties, the number of poor laborers that went out for work this year stood at 2.73 million, which is also higher than the annual figures from 2019, the authority said.

Meanwhile, 373,600 poverty-alleviation projects in 22 provincial-level regions of central and western China had restored production as of May 31, with most leading poverty-alleviation enterprises and workshops in these regions back on track, offering employment opportunities for more than 1.18 million poor people.

These areas have also seen improvements in consumption-led poverty-relief projects, which have covered 52,190 types of products from 1,532 counties and 19,223 suppliers. These projects aim to engage urban residents in buying products from impoverished areas to increase local people's income.

Aiming at realizing the goal of poverty elimination, the country is making headway in establishing a mechanism to prevent people from falling back into poverty and provide targeted assistance, the authority said.