China's top leadership has pledged more targeted measures to help the nation's impoverished people, a move that will be necessary for gearing the economy toward truly sustainable growth.

Despite China's impressive economic growth over the past two decades, there are still a number of people in the country living in poverty, putting a drag on broader growth and hampering the economy's transition toward being driven by domestic demand.

At the end of 2014, there were 70.17 million rural residents living below the national poverty level of 2,300 yuan ($376) in annual income in terms of 2010 price standards, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The country is aiming to improve the quality of its growth, so addressing poverty is understandably a high priority for the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). 

At a two-day conference on poverty alleviation that ended on Saturday, President Xi Jinping said "no single poor region nor an individual living in poverty will be left behind," and that the country is on its way to realizing the goal of "building a moderately prosperous society" by 2020, Xinhua reported.

Poverty alleviation should be the top priority for the next five years in the work of local governments, particularly in underdeveloped areas, Xi said.

The urgency of the task should be recognized, as the number of people living in poverty is significant. A widening gap is also being seen between rich and poor, which is likely to have an impact on economic growth.

"Addressing high and growing inequality is critical for promoting strong and sustained growth and needs to be at the centre of the policy debate," Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), was quoted as saying in an OECD analysis report released in December 2014. "Countries that promote equal opportunities for all from an early age are those that will grow and prosper," he said.

To increase opportunities in impoverished areas of the country, the government needs to invest sufficiently to foster skills among poor people so that they can take part in the country's economic growth.

Premier Li Keqiang also noted during the conference on poverty alleviation that "priority should be given to the improvement of rural infrastructure, including roads and access to water, power and the Internet," Xinhua reported.

Such measures will be part of an essential social investment to enable more equal growth in the long run, which is of pivotal importance for the Chinese economy.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn