By Xinhua writers Zhou Qianxian, Rong Jiaojiao

BEIJING, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- For Zhang Jingui, a villager in northwest China's Gansu Province, winter means no work, as her entire income comes from growing highland barley in the summer.

A nearby ski resort introduced in 2016 by the local government as a poverty alleviation program proved to be a game-changer. Employed as a cleaner at the resort, now 46-year-old Zhang can better feed her family when winter comes.

"The government built new roads and renovated cottages in preparation for the ski resort, which then provided over 120 jobs for us villagers," she said.

Zhang is one of millions of Chinese who were lifted out of poverty and steadily improved their living standards over the past year as China pursues high-quality development.

The Chinese government implemented bold reforms in 2019 in employment, poverty reduction, pension insurance and environmental protection to fuel people's sense of gain, happiness and security.

PEOPLE FIRST

Along with advancing economic development, China has been sticking with the principle of people-centered development, which begins with resolving problems that are of practical concern and directly affect the people.

"In assessing economic development, we should not only look at the size and growth rate but also understand to what extent it gives ordinary people a sense of fulfillment," said Yao Jingyuan, a research fellow at the Counsellors' Office of the State Council.

Eliminating poverty is the first and key step in improving people's lives. China made great headway in reducing poverty with targeted measures, with more than 10 million people and around 340 counties expected to be lifted out of poverty in 2019.

In areas hit by deep poverty, including parts of Tibet, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu, the poverty headcount ratio has fallen to 2 percent from 8.2 percent in 2018.

As the foundation of public wellbeing, employment is the wellspring of wealth and the foundation for social security and stability.

In the first 10 months this year, 11.93 million new urban jobs were created, meeting the annual target of creating more than 11 million new jobs ahead of schedule.

Thanks to the implementation of special additional deductions for individual income tax, personal income continued to grow along with an expanded job market.

The national resident disposable income posted a nominal growth of 8.8 percent year on year in the first nine months, or an inflation-adjusted growth of 6.1 percent, basically in line with the economic growth rate.

Meanwhile, the income gap between China's urban and rural residents continued to narrow. The inflation-adjusted year-on-year growth of per capita disposable income in rural regions was 6.4 percent in the Jan.-Sept. period, compared with 5.4 percent for urban areas.

The living environment also improved significantly. Chinese people can enjoy more blue skies, clearer waters and more lush mountains after the government launched a series of key campaigns in pollution prevention and control.

The density of PM2.5 in China's central and southwest regions dropped 22 percent and 13 percent year on year, respectively, in the first 11 months.

GOVERNMENT ROLE

China has been ramping up efforts in the past year to directly benefit the people, address their difficulties and ensure that their basic living needs are met and help people feel more satisfied, happier and more secure.

The government pushed ahead with targeted poverty relief, which entails identifying and setting up files for every single impoverished household to form a nationwide database that enables local governments to devise individual poverty relief plans and track results.

An array of measures were rolled out to ensure a stable job market, including insurance payment rebates for employers, government subsidies for skills training, and bigger tax cuts. Favorable policies were also given to people setting up their own businesses.

China has formed a system of environmental laws and regulations, spent big on ecological and environmental protection and launched a series of environmental inspections to provide support for the battle against pollution.

TO BE BETTER OFF

"A sense of gain" is also a desired goal in the annual central economic work conference held earlier in December that charted a course for the economy in 2020, when China aims to eradicate absolute poverty and finish the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

To secure a victory against poverty on schedule, China will tackle bastions of deep poverty, boost industrial development for poverty relief and support relocation programs to prevent people from slipping back into poverty, said a statement released after the meeting.

Furthermore, China is dedicated to deepening market-oriented reforms and opening up the service sector regarding people's wellbeing such as medical care and elderly care, ensuring supply through multiple sources, and increasing social benefits while pursuing economic returns.

"China will do more to improve the lives and address the concerns of the people, and strengthen areas of weakness through high-quality development," said Guan Bo, a researcher with the Academy of Macro-economic Research under the National Development and Reform Commission.