Along with a white paper reviewing the country's recent accomplishments in poverty alleviation and the vow to annually raise more than 10 million people above the poverty line beginning this year, the central authorities have pledged to install a responsibility system for fulfilling that goal, with the aim of meeting the 2020 deadline for building a relatively better-off society.

Under the proposed accountability regime, local authorities will certainly have to take the matter seriously. After all, the Party chiefs and government heads in poverty-stricken counties will not be allowed to leave their posts until they eliminate poverty there.

And judging from the numbers, the goal does not seem unachievable. The white paper says that in 2015 alone, more than 14 million people were lifted out of poverty. The resourceful government has seldom failed to achieve pre-set goals.