Sichuan vows to hit anti-poverty goal despite virus

Sichuan province has vowed to lift its remaining 200,000 poverty-stricken people from 300 villages out of poverty this year as scheduled, despite the adverse impact of COVID-19, top provincial officials said on Wednesday.

Peng Qinghua, Party chief of the province, said on Wednesday that COVID-19 has cast a huge influence on the socioeconomic growth in Sichuan, an inland province home to over 91 million people, making efforts to help poverty-stricken people more challenging.

But the province has managed to lower the adverse impact to its lowest level and has vowed to lift the 200,000 people out of poverty by the end of this year, Peng said at a news conference in the provincial capital Chengdu organized by the State Council Information Office on Wednesday.