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Extra! People's Daily On Xi Jinping's War On Poverty

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People's Daily (China) January 22, 2015

Chinese President Xi Jinping's first "domestic inspection tour" of 2015 was used this week to try to boost the economy in the impoverished Yunnan Province in southwest China. The People’s Daily featured in-depth coverage and up-close photographs of Xi meeting with locals as the government seeks to rally support for what the president called the "tough battle" against poverty.

Xi, widely cited for his popular touch, chose as his first stop to meet locals the county of Ludian in Yunnan Province, an area where many ethnic groups live and which was also victim to a 6.1-magnitude earthquake last August that killed more than 600. Thousands of people still live in temporary camps in the area.

People's Daily reported that Xi was warmly welcomed by the earthquake survivors in Ludian, as he vowed to improve living standards and accelerate the building of new earthquake-resistant housing.

Xi also says that Ludian County should set a good example for the solidarity of the country. Despite being the world's second largest economy, China has 92 million people who live in poverty, many of the most destitute in minority ethnic regions in the west of the country.

ABOUT THE SOURCE: Founded in 1946, People’s Daily is the official newspaper of the government of the People's Republic of China.

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