BEIJING — Vice-Premier Wang Yang has said it should make clear that relocating people from the poorest regions is a means of reducing poverty rather than an end in itself.

Relocation should not be just for the sake of relocation, without keeping in mind that its function is to overcome poverty, Wang told a meeting on poverty relief.

The bottom line is that relocation should not increase people’s burden by offering new houses that they cannot afford.

In order to raise people out of poverty as scheduled, the authorities should strengthen their support with follow-up policies, the vice-premier said.