China's central government has increased its budgetary for poverty relief programs by 800 million yuan (nearly 100 million US dollars) to 12.2 billion yuan (1.48 billion US dollars) for this year, official figures showed.

According to the figures released by the Poverty Reduction Office of the State Council, China's cabinet, local governments would provide 3 billion yuan (365 million US dollars) in funding support for those programs.

An official with the office said the combined government funding for anti-poverty programs is a record high in the past fewyears.

By the end of 2003, China has 29 million people under poverty line in rural China, whose per-capita annual income is below 637 yuan (77 US dollars), as against 250 million in 1977, according toa United Nations report issued last month.

The official called on local governments to increase their investment in anti-poverty projects for the country's dozens of millions under poverty line.

China's official investment in development projects in rural China increased from 24.8 billion yuan (3 billion US dollars) in 2000 to 29.9 billion yuan (3.6 billion US dollars) in 2003, according to a white paper China issued earlier this year.

This input was used to improve the production conditions for agriculture and animal husbandry in poor areas, to spread compulsory education and eliminate illiteracy, to train farmers inpractical technology, to prevent and cure endemic diseases and to provide drinking water for both people and animals there.