Senior Chinese leaders convened on Tuesday to map out efforts to alleviate poverty in the country's rural areas over the next decade as the government tries to narrow a widening wealth gap.

China maps out rural poverty alleviation for next decade.[File photo]

The two-day working conference on poverty alleviation held by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will study the implementation of the Outline for Development-oriented Poverty Reduction for China's Rural Areas (2011-2020).

The outline is expected to be unveiled after the conference, the first of its kind since the last such conference was held in 2001, when the rural poverty-alleviation plan for the 2001-2010 period was announced.

The government has a goal of providing adequate food and clothing for poverty-stricken people while ensuring their access to compulsory education, basic medical services and housing by 2020, an official in charge of poverty reduction said earlier this month.

The widening wealth gaps between urban and rural areas, different regions and between the rich and poor in China were worrisome, said Fan Xiaojian, head of the Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development under the State Council.

The average per capita income of China's urban residents was 3.23 times that of rural residents in 2010, he said in an interview with Xinhua.

China increased its spending on poverty reduction from 12.75 billion yuan in 2001 to 34.93 billion yuan in 2010, representing an average annual growth rate of 11.9 percent, according to a government white paper on poverty reduction released this month.

The country had reduced its poverty-stricken population in rural regions to 26.88 million at the end of 2010 from 94.22 million a decade ago, said the white paper.

The government considers those who earn less than 1,274 yuan (about 200 U.S. dollars) in annual income to be impoverished, according to the poverty line it set in 2010. The standard applied in 2000 was 865 yuan in annual income.

The World Bank considers those living on less than 1.25 U.S. dollars per day to be impoverished.

There remain some deep-seated problems that constrain the development of the country's poor areas and stronger resolution and force are needed to advance the poverty-reduction efforts, according to a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee that discussed the 2011-2020 poverty-reduction outline in April.

"Expanding the fight against poverty through development projects is an important step to improve the well-being of the people in China, to narrow the income gap and to ensure that all people share the benefits of China's incredible economic growth," said a statement released after the meeting.