Millions of rural people in northwest China's Shaanxi Province have shaken off poverty thanks to the joint efforts of the provincial and central governments.

In a drive to build up a comprehensive social relief system, the province provided basic living support for 1.93 million villagers and helped 2.93 million needy people escape poverty during the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001 to 2005), raising the average annual income to 1,755 yuan (US$210).

The provincial government of Shaanxi also carried out specific poverty-relief projects in 4,426 villages across the province, building new houses for 450,000 poor people and instructing 130,000 farmers in new agricultural techniques.

In 2005 alone, the province received 460 million yuan (US$57.5 million) from the central government's poverty-relief fund and itself poured 50.05 million yuan (US$6.25 million) into the project, 45 percent up on the figure in 2001.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2006)