China is widely recognized for its achievements in reducing absolute poverty since the launch of reforms in the late 1970s. Fast economic growth together with a well funded national poverty reduction programme have led to a tremendous reduction in rural poverty during the past quarter of a century. Official estimates indicate that between 1978 and 2005 the rural population living in poverty decreased from roughly 250 million to 23.7 million, respectively, and the poverty incidence fell from 30.7 per cent to 2.6 per cent during that same period.
URL : http://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/mrs_27.pdf