BEIJING - The Finance Ministry said Friday that its spending on poverty relief in rural areas for 2012 surged 31.9 percent from a year earlier to 299.6 billion yuan ($47.79 billion).

The funds were used to enhance agricultural production, improve people's living standards and support education, health care and social security, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry has made active efforts to improve poverty relief policies and continued to increase spending for helping people living in poverty this year, the statement said.

In December 2011, China released a guideline for rural poverty relief and development during the 2011-2020 period in an effort to accelerate the development of impoverished areas and realize the target of completing the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020.