City in Smog.docVIP

City in Smog 　　A view of Beijing on December 19. Severe smog continued to prevail in north China， disrupting life in dozens of cities. 　　 Tackling Poverty 　　China has made huge strides in poverty reduction， achieving the government’s target of lifting 10 million people out of poverty in 2016. 　　The country’s financial input for poverty reduction hit a record high in 2016， with that from the central and provincial governments exceeding 100 billion yuan （$14.5 billion） for the first time， Liu Yongfu， head of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development， told a conference on December 20. 　　Breakdown figures showed the central budget allocated 66.7 billion yuan （$9.6 billion） for poverty reduction in 2016， up 43.4 percent year on year， while that allocated by provincial governments rose more than 50 percent to top 40 billion yuan （$5.76 billion）. China has lifted 700 million people out of poverty through more than 30 years of reform and opening up. The nation aims to eliminate poverty by 2020. 　　To meet this goal， China must lift 10 million people out of poverty each year from 2016 to 2020. 　　Liu said the country will work on several fronts in 2017 to reduce poverty： promoting industrial development in poor regions； giving the poor better access to employment services， healthcare and education； and improving infrastructure in poor regions. 　　 Supervisory System Reform 　　China’s top legislature on December 19 deliberated a draft decision on piloting supervisory system reform in Beijing and the provinces of Shanxi and Zhejiang. 　　The draft was submitted for review by lawmakers at a bimonthly session of the National People’s Congress （NPC） Standing Committee， which ran from December 19 to 25. 　　According to the draft， new supervision committees will be established in the three areas to produce an integrated supervision system that will be more authoritative and efficient. 　　The new supervision committee will integrate the su