China improves living conditions of the poor in multiple fields: white paper

APD NEWS

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China has improved the living condition in multiple fields to ensure the poor population has access to safe drinking water, education and essential medical services, said a white paper on China's recent human rights achievement, released by the State Council Information Office on Thursday.

The country has invested in the Safe Drinking Water Program for Rural Areas since 2005. After a decade, the program benefited 520 million rural residents.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), the program expanded its access to another 382 million rural people. Eighty-three percent of rural areas had access to tap water by 2020, an increase compared with 70 percent in 2015.

China also carried out a program to help the poor to strive out of the poverty through education.

"Now, all primary and secondary schools in China have access to the internet and 95.3 percent have multimedia classrooms," the paper said.

According to the white paper, about 1.3 million rural teachers from over 80,000 schools have received living subsidies from the government as students from poor families can receive financial support during the compulsory education.

It said 150 million students are exempted from school fees and textbook fees each year. In addition, 25 million students receive living subsidies and 14 million students from migrant workers' families can be subsidized for the school fees.

"In 2020, the compulsory education completion rate in poor counties reached 94.8 percent," said the paper.

In terms of medical services, the paper said the basic medical insurance covers almost 100 percent poor population. "Every village has a clinic, and every town or township has a health center served by licensed doctors."

By far, the nation covers 30 serious illnesses with special funds for the poor people, benefiting over 20 million patients, according to the paper.

(CGTN)