The Chinese government should continue to combat rural poverty through development, said Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), on Wednesday.

Addressing a seminar on building a harmonious new countryside, Cheng said the country, directed by the government with contributions by the whole society, had successfully pursued a development-oriented way of poverty alleviation, which had been praised by the international community.

Cheng said poverty reduction work should stick to a "people first" policy. The government should provide the poor with micro credit at low interest and develop human resources through training and education.

Government services should be enhanced in rural areas.

He said the government would continue to make poverty reduction a priority, develop policies for needy people, call on society as a whole to contribute to poverty reduction and promote development balanced between natural and human resources.

Governments at all levels should attach great importance to the work on poverty alleviation by intensifying investment and striving to improve the living and working conditions in impoverished regions.

By the end of 2005, 79 percent of villages in poor counties receiving national support had roads, 95.8 percent had electricity,73.8 percent telephone services and 87.6 percent TV cables.

Statistics from the World Bank show China accounted for 75 percent of the people who emerged from poverty in the world.

(Xinhua News Agency November 30, 2006)