Vice-Premier Wang Yang called for sustained and targeted efforts to fight poverty and complete the task of reducing the number of rural residents living in impoverished circumstances by more than 10 million this year.

Wang made the comments during the 5th plenary of the State Council Leading Group of Poverty Alleviation and Development in Beijing on March 17.

After a period of intense collection of analytical data, Wang said, we should make full use of that achievement to take targeted measures to ensure that funding for poverty alleviation actually reaches the people who need it.

Ordering local governments at all levels to set a goal and clarify requirements and responsibilities, Wang said an inspection would be launched by the end of this year to evaluate their work.

Wang also said extensive measures should be carried out to improve poverty relief as we are entering a key period in the fight against poverty, and assessment methods for impoverished counties should be reformed to make them focus on lifting people out of poverty.

Earlier this month, Premier Li Keqiang promised, in his government work report, to lift more than 10 million rural people out of poverty in 2015.