HAIKOU, March 20. /TASS/. Since 2012, about 650,000 rural residents of Hainan are not considered as poor any more, according to the data provided by the Chinese State Statistical Office quoted by the Hainan Daily newspaper.
As of the end of 2019, the newspaper writes, the poverty rate in the province decreased to 0.5%. In 2012, this indicator stood at the level of 11.4%. By the end of 2019, the provincial authorities were able to fulfill the targets for poverty alleviation in rural Hainan areas ahead of schedule. The disposable income per capita in rural areas was brought up to 12,789 yuan (about $ 1,800), which is by 1,244 yuan (about $ 177) more than in 2018.
Over the past 10 years the local authorities have been able to significantly improve living standards in rural areas through various measures of supporting local farmers. It was the agricultural sector in 2019 that became the main source of income for the poor in rural districts.
In February, the Hainan authorities announced they completed their anti-poverty efforts in the province and vowed to continue working in that direction, said Meng Li, head of the regional office for poverty alleviation. According to the official, the cities of Wuzhishan and Baisha-Li autonomous county in the central part of the island as well as Lingao county in the island's north are no longer considered poor and economically disadvantaged. Thus, the region implemented one more task on the Chinese 13th five-year plan (2016-2020).