60 Million Are Below Poverty Line in China

PEKING —  More than 10 million people in China have been lifted above the poverty line since 1981, but another 60 million still earn less than $40 a year, the official China Daily newspaper said Tuesday, quoting scientists reporting at the first national Symposium on the Economic and Cultural Development of Impoverished Areas.

While at least 60 million people still live below the poverty line, with an average per capita income of less than $40 plus 440 pounds of grain, “this is 14% less than the 70 million who fell into that category before the 6th five-year plan (1981-85),” the paper quoted a report from the conference as saying.