Graphics shows the poverty levels in China's rural areas according to the current rural poverty standard, Oct. 17, 2016. [Photo: Xinhua/Zhou Daqing]

China pledged to lift 10 million people out of poverty every year from 2016 On Monday, October 17, in a white paper on China's progress in poverty reduction and human rights issued by China's State Council Information Office. The aim is to eradicate poverty by 2020.

China was the first developing country to reach the UN's Millennium Development Goals and has already lifted 600 million people (70% of the world's total) out of poverty.

Despite the remarkable achievements, at the end of last year, China still had 56 million people living in poverty, roughly the same size as the population of South Africa.

The release of the white paper coincides with China's third Poverty Relief Day.

The white paper highlights the continued importance of China's large population still living in profound poverty, and the complexity and increasing cost of solving their problems.

"This will prove a hard nut to crack," the white paper says in reference to the future task.

Although the task ahead seems large and difficult, small-scale projects remain important. On Sunday, agreements between 12 prosperous and wealthy villages, mostly from the eastern side of China, and 12 impoverished villages, mostly in western China were signed.

"We believe that by encouraging such cooperation, gaps in wealth and economic development can be narrowed," said Xu Jianmin, an official from the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

Aerial photo taken on Oct. 14, 2016 shows a road winding through mountains in Chengjiang Township of Du'an Yao Autonomous County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. [Photo: Xinhua]

In Du'an Autonomous County, in China's Guangxi Province, about 136,700 people live in poverty. The area is a mountainous and is building roads to connect through the mountains has become a priority in local poverty alleviation efforts. By the end of 2015, over 1,700-km roads were built for the villages in the county.

An ethnic Bouyei woman and a foreigner participate in the bamboo dance in Zhenfeng County in Guizhou's Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture. [Photo: Agencies]

Tourism in Guizhou, southwest China, also contributes economically to the alleviation of poverty. Between 2011 and 2015, due to increased tourism, the amount of people living in poverty decreased almost 50%.