Gao Hongbin, director of the office, told the conference that at the end of 2000, the number of rural poor in China who were inadequately fed and clothed declined to 30 million, accounting for approximately 3 percent of the rural population.

Gao said, "In the poor counties under the national poverty line, economic development has advanced in stride with economic indicators higher than the national average."

According to the statistics provided by the office, the agricultural output value increased by 54 percent since the year of 1994, representing an annual growth rate of 7.5 percent; industrial output value shot up by 99.3 percent, averaging annual growth of 12.2 percent; local financial revenue nearly doubled; grain output grew at 1.9 percent annually; per capita net annual income of farmers increased from 684 yuan (US$82) to 1337 yuan (US$161), with an annual growth rate of 12.8 percent.

Thanks to the fast development, production and living conditions have improved dramatically, said the director.

During the past seven years, some 592 poor countries developed 60.12 million-mu of farm land, built 320,000-km roads and installed 360,000-km power transmission and distribution lines. A total of 53.51 million people and 48.36 million animals now have access to enough water supply.

Statistics show that almost 95.5 percent of rural villages have access to eclectricity. Roads, postal service and telephones are accessible to 89 percent, 69 percent and 67.7 percent of all villages respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency 06/19/2001)