Jia Qinglin (FRONT L), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, shakes hands with representatives at a meeting to honor 73 outstanding figures who have done well in the fight against poverty in Beijing, capital of China, on Sept. 9, 2009. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

    BEIJING, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Jia Qinglin stressed Wednesday the importance of development-oriented poverty relief, citing it as a historical task for the country.

    Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks at a meeting to honor 73 outstanding figures who have done well in the fight against poverty.

    "Since the reform and opening up, the country has been mobilizing the whole society to contribute to the large-scale and well-planned poverty relief campaign. We made a great achievement," said Jia.

    In the 1980s, China changed its poverty reduction policy from simple relief through goods and cash, the so-called "blood transfusion" policy, to development-oriented relief.

    The development-oriented poverty relief focuses on enhancing skills and capacities of the poor so they can find work.

    Statistics show that the country's total of poor had been reduced to 15 million in 2008, from 250 million in 1978.