North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region recently moved to ramp up its already considerable work on lifting people out of destitution, according to local officials.

They said that the region’s leading group for poverty alleviation and development held its second meeting for 2020, to study and review relevant issues -- and arrange the deployment of the next phase of poverty alleviation work.

At the meeting, officials reviewed and approved the “2019 work report on the effectiveness evaluation of poverty alleviation” and the “2019 assessment work report of Inner Mongolia’s poverty alleviation special work promotion group”.

They also reviewed a remedial report on the problems highlighted in the effectiveness evaluation of poverty alleviation report prepared by Inner Mongolia’s Party committee and government -- and the eight measures for consolidating the achievements in poverty alleviation and preventing once poverty-stricken people from returning to poverty.

The meeting pointed out that winning the battle against poverty was a task that must be completed this year and departments at all levels should do their utmost to help complete achieve that goal.

Officials said more efforts should be made to solve drinking water safety issues, boost the employment of migrant workers and to support poverty alleviation industries going back to work and production.

Meanwhile, the government must pay close attention to newly identified households on the brink of poverty -- as well as once poverty-stricken people now lifted out of poverty and groups with special difficulties -- and people whose incomes or expenditures have plummeted.

Officials said the government would also move to improve monitoring and assistance mechanisms to prevent poverty from reoccurring and continue to improve poverty alleviation policies.