The Chinese people's overall living standard and quality of life were improved considerably, and the consumption pattern of the society continued its shift from one of basic living to one of modern living, says a white paper on China's human rights progress in 2004, issued by the Information Office of the State Council on Wednesday.

In 2004, China's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 13,650 billion yuan, an increase of 9.5 percent over the previous year. Total grain output in 2004 reached 469.5 billion kg, an increase of 9 percent over the previous year, according to the white paper.

Meanwhile, the per capita net income for rural residents was 2, 936 yuan, an increase of 6.8 percent in real terms and the biggest increase since 1997. The per capita disposable income of urban residents was 9,422 yuan, an increase of 7.7 percent in real terms, says the paper.

Statistics show that the number of private cars kept increasing, reaching six million at the end of 2004, making China a market with the quickest increase in the number of private cars in the world.

Over the past four years, China has witnessed an addition of 90 million telephone users annually, and in 2004 some 14.5 million new Internet users were recorded in China. At present, there are more than 650 million telephone users and over 94 million Internet users in China, says the paper.

The paper says that the housing conditions and living environment for urban and rural residents have been improved considerably. By the end of 2004, the low-rent housing system for minimum-income families was established in 35 large and medium- sized cities. By the end of 2003, the per-capita living space in cities and towns reached 23.7 sq m, and it was 27.2 sq m in rural areas.

The Chinese government continues to take effective measures to help the rural poor shake off poverty. In 2004, the central government earmarked 12.2 billion yuan as funds to aid the poor. The population of poor farmers in the countryside was 2.9 million fewer than in the previous year, according to the paper.

The International Aid-the-Poor Conference convened in Shanghai in May 2004 spoke highly of the achievements China had made in helping the poor, declaring, "The achievements China has made in helping the poor is a good example. It has proved that it is not an unreachable goal for mankind to eliminate poverty. The example of China will reverse the pessimistic sentiment surrounding the argument on poverty elimination."