Women participating in construction work of a river dam pose for a group photo in Wuying Village, a Miao village under joint administration of Rongshui County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Congjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, July 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)

Over the past 40 years, more than 700 million Chinese people have cast off poverty, representing over 70 percent of global poverty reduction.

The country still had 16.6 million rural people living below the national poverty line at the end of 2018, with more than half of them living in the country's less-developed western region.

BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- China has made historic achievements in fighting poverty over the past decades, making the country a major contributor to the world's poverty reduction endeavors.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and also a crucial stage for the country's poverty-alleviation campaign as it vows to eradicate poverty by 2020.

The following are some facts and figures about the progress the country has made in its poverty-alleviation campaign:

-- Over the past 40 years, more than 700 million Chinese people have cast off poverty, representing over 70 percent of global poverty reduction.

-- Between 2013 and 2018, China has lifted 82.39 million rural poor residents out of poverty, with an annual average of 13.73 million people casting off poverty, more than the entire population of Greece.

-- The country still had 16.6 million rural people living below the national poverty line at the end of 2018, with more than half of them living in the country's less-developed western region.

-- In 2018, the annual per-capita disposable income of rural residents in poverty-hit regions stood at 10,371 yuan (about 1,475 U.S. dollars), double its 2012 level.

-- Continued income growth boosted consumption, with the per-capita rural consumption in poor areas reaching 8,956 yuan last year, representing an average annual increase of 11.4 percent.

-- China also offered experience and assistance to other countries in their poverty-reduction efforts. By the end of October 2015, the country had provided 400 billion yuan of assistance to 166 countries and international organizations, dispatched over 600,000 assistance personnel and offered medical assistance to 69 countries, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.