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BEIJING - THE number of Chinese people officially living in poverty could double to 80 million if the government adopts proposed standards for measuring the problem, the official Xinhua agency said on Sunday.
Beijing may raise the amount its citizens have to earn each year to escape poverty, from 1,067 yuan (S$207) to 1,300 yuan, a 20 per cent leap which would roughly double the number of officially impoverished people.
Allowing for Chinese living costs and exchange rates, the new figure would be equivalent to living on a dollar a day, Xinhua said, citing the national Poverty Alleviation Office, which is collecting opinons on the plan nationwide.
The move would be a bold one for an unelected government that bases much of its claim to legitimacy on improving living standards over three decades of economic reform.
But it would bring China closer in line with international standards, better reflect domestic concern about a rising rich-poor gap and may help identify individuals and areas most in need of government aid.
China is also keen to emphasise on the global stage that despite its rising power and influence it is still a developing country with serious poverty to tackle at home.
There were no details on how the single figure was reached for a country where there are yawning differences in living standards between the glitzy east coast cities at the heart of an economic boom and remote inland areas where some people still live without electricity or clean water.
Xinhua did not say if the benchmark for abject poverty, income of 785 yuan or less per year, would also be lifted. -- REUTERS
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