Poverty alleviation has been the most important part of the people's livelihood, and President Xi Jinping is most concerned about it. On March 8 at a meeting with Hunan province deputies during the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), Xi reviewed a report on poverty alleviation progress in Shibadong village in Southwest Hunan province.

He also discussed precise poverty alleviation plans with them. Three years ago, Xi put forward tasks to reduce poverty in Shibadong village. The task has just entered the essential stage. Xi urged local leaders to raise their workloads and work with the local community to achieve their goals.

Prosperity is earned through hard work. Poverty is not an inevitable destiny. The most difficult task for building a moderately prosperous society is poverty alleviation.

Xi and the Central Government have highlighted current objectives, which require precise applications and a sense of urgency. With great efforts can we pull the roots of poverty and transform barren hills.

Confidence can turn a rock into gold. With determination to tackle problems, we can change the short board, and turn poverty into development for building a moderately prosperous society on schedule.

By Sun Xiaoli, deputy director of the Department of Political Science of the Chinese Academy of Governance, comics drawn by Wang Dongjie