Farmers harvest rice in Yongning township of Yunnan province. [Photo by Zhao Qingzu for chinadaily.com.cn]

The number of rural people grappling with extreme poverty was cut by more than 10 million last year, and about 280 counties dropped their impoverished label, according to China's anti-poverty chief.

Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, said it is the sixth consecutive year that China has reduced its destitute population by more than 10 million.

"The scale is unprecedented," he said, adding that a total of 80 million rural poor had been lifted out of their situation over the past six years.

Liu was speaking at a national poverty reduction and development conference held in Beijing.

China has pledged to eradicate extreme poverty domestically by the end of 2020, in time for the centenary of the Communist Party of China.

The number of rural poor stood at almost 100 million in 2012, when the central leadership ramped up efforts to fight poverty with targeted measures.

Last year the task was listed as one of the "three tough battles" that China must win in the next three years, alongside preventing financial risks and tackling pollution.

Liu noted that 2018 was "a good start" and that progress is obvious in the country's most underdeveloped regions. The local officials' capability to carry out the task has also improved.

Most of the poverty-stricken regions now have access to basic infrastructure, including roads, drinking water, electricity, telecommunications, basic education and healthcare, he said.

To win the anti-poverty war, another 10 million people must be lifted up economically in 2019, along with about 300 impoverished counties, Liu said. 
"Efforts should also be made to avoid those who have been lifted out of poverty from slipping back in."

They should be ensured sufficient food and clothing, basic housing and healthcare needs, as well as transporting their children to school for nine years of compulsory free education, he said.

More than 700 million farmers were lifted out of dire poverty over the last 40 years, when China adopted its reform and opening-up policy, according to Liu's office.

The new direction ended years of domestic turmoil and kick-started decades of rapid economic growth.

Over the four decades, the poverty rate in rural areas plunged from 97.5 percent to 3.1 percent at the end of last year, and is expected to drop below 2 percent this year, the office said.