Eliminating national poverty

This year will be of great significance for Chinese people – the country will eliminate absolute poverty and achieve its goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.
对于中国人民而言，今年是意义重大的一年 —— 我国将消除绝对贫困，实现全面建成小康社会的目标。

As of the end of last year, China had about 5.5 million impoverished rural residents, down by 11 million year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. All the rest will be relieved from poverty this year, according to a circular released in February.
据国家统计局数据显示，截至去年年底，我国约有550万农村贫困人口，比上年末减少1100万人。今年2月发布的一份通知称，剩余贫困人口将于今年脱贫。

However, the epidemic – which has hindered the flow of the workforce, disrupted the operations of industries and postponed anti-poverty projects – poses new challenges to China’s campaign against poverty.
然而，新冠肺炎疫情使劳动力流动受阻，各行各业的正常经营被打乱，扶贫项目延缓，为我国的脱贫攻坚战带来了新挑战。

On Feb 23, President Xi Jinping stressed that the country should resolutely accomplish the task of alleviating poverty despite the impact of the epidemic.
2月23日，国家主席习近平强调，要努力克服疫情影响，坚决完成脱贫攻坚任务。

He urged efforts to help poor workers return to their posts in an orderly manner, support leading poverty alleviation enterprises and workshops to resume work as soon as possible, and improve mechanisms to prevent people from returning to poverty.
他指出，要帮助贫困劳动力有序返岗，支持扶贫龙头企业、扶贫车间尽快复工，加快建立健全防止返贫机制。

Amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, concrete measures have been rolled out to secure employment of the poor population.
新冠病毒肺炎疫情期间，我国出台了一系列具体措施来保障贫困人口就业。

For instance, the government of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region stepped up to resume production amid the outbreak to stop people from returning to poverty. A clothing factory in Hotan, Xinjiang, issued guidelines to ensure “safe work resumption during the outbreak,” reported Global Times.
比如，新疆维吾尔自治区政府在疫情期间推进复工复产，防止返贫。据《环球时报》报道，新疆和田一家服装厂发布了“疫情期间安全复工复产”的准则。

These safety measures included assigning special correspondents to gather and issue feedback of problems workers have encountered during the process of going back to work, and requesting employees to avoid gathering together.
这些安全措施包括安排专人收集和发布工人复工期间遇到的问题反馈，要求员工避免聚集。

To ensure migrant workers return to work in a safe and orderly manner, several cities and provinces, such as Zhejiang, are sending flights and buses to pick up migrant workers in Sichuan and Yunnan.
为确保外地务工人员安全有序复工，浙江等多个省市都安排了飞机和大巴接回四川和云南的务工人员。

As of February, all impoverished counties in nine provincial-level areas have recovered, helping China get one step closer to completing this year’s goal of eliminating poverty nationwide, reported China Daily.
据《中国日报》报道，今年2月底，九省份的贫困县全部脱贫摘帽，我国离完成今年在全国范围内消除贫困的目标又近了一步。

David Gosset, a sinologist and the founder of the Europe-China Forum, described the nation’s achievement in eliminating poverty is of “global significance”. Although at a critical time of the epidemic, China will certainly overcome its new challenges, “by continuing its progress on its own path of reform and opening-up,” commented China Daily.
中欧论坛创始人、汉学家高大伟称我国在脱贫方面的成就具有“全球意义”。尽管处于疫情的关键时期，但中国无疑会“继续走改革开放之路”，战胜新挑战，《中国日报》评论道。

以上文章内容选自《21世纪学生英文报高中版》，详情请见《21世纪学生英文报高中版》高二783期