Although China's rural poverty-relief program is going smoothly, the situation of the country's poverty alleviation work remains serious, Liu Jian, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, said in Beijing recently.

By the end of 2005, China had 23.65 million needy people with per capita annual income below 683 yuan (US$85.4), which is only 20 percent of the average annual income of the country's rural population, Liu said.

Besides, the country has 40.67 million people whose annual income is less than 944 yuan (US$118).

In line with the international standards, the number of the needy population in China is the second largest in the world after India, Liu said.

More than half of the poverty-stricken population in China are living in mountainous areas. Each has less than one mu (0.067 hectare) of farmland.

He said the food supply problem has not been fundamentally solved in some poverty-hit areas.

In the 100 poverty-stricken counties that are investigated by the office, about 36.4 percent of the households suffer from food shortages to different extents.

(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2006)