Speaking in June, Xi said the country will adopt a strict appraisal system for poverty alleviation measures, and officials who forge statistics or misuse funds intended for poverty relief will be severely punished.

The classes are part of the government's plan to make decisive progress in poverty alleviation. Every person living in poverty is now offered a tailor-made poverty relief plan designed to suit their family circumstances, personal skills and even their interests.

Back in Horqin Right Wing Middle Banner, Mu has become a trainer at the embroidery workshop, earning an extra 100 yuan a day by teaching other women.

When he delivered his report on Wednesday, Xi stressed the role education plays in the eradication of poverty.

People living in harsh environments are also offered the opportunity to relocate.

"Ensuring that poor people and impoverished areas will enter the 'moderately prosperous' society along with the rest of the country is a solemn promise made by our Party," Xi said, when he delivered a report to the 19th CPC National Congress on Wednesday.

In a letter of congratulation to the 2017 Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum on Beijing, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke highly of China's poverty alleviation achievements, saying that targeted alleviation measures are the only way to help the poorest in society and to achieve the major goals of the organization's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

After years of problems, the banner was placed on a list of areas of the most poverty-stricken places in the country.

In June 2015, he explained the philosophy behind the strategy and its basic requirements while presiding at a CPC symposium on poverty relief and economic and social development in Guizhou province.

However, despite the progress made, the task is likely to become more difficult across the country.

Because Mongolians are passionate about horses and many learn to ride as children, the banner's authorities decided to create jobs by developing the equine industry. In addition to breeding horses, young Mongolians are encouraged to become skilled riders and take part in races nationwide.

The determination and scale of the poverty alleviation projects launched after the 18th CPC National Congress at the end of 2012 is unprecedented, according to Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office for Poverty Alleviation and Development.

During the first five years of his term as president, Xi has visited the 14 poorest parts of the country, and more than 30 of his 50-plus investigative visits nationwide have been related to poverty relief.

"We will pay particular attention to helping people gain greater confidence in their ability to lift themselves out of poverty and ensure that they have access to the education they need to do so," he said.

He also encouraged financial input from industries and social forces, saying the social welfare system should provide basic living standards for the impoverished and unemployed.

Contact the writers at cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn

The banner, a county-level settlement, lies at the north of the grassland in Horqin, and 86 percent of its population hails from the Mongolian ethnic group. Horqin means "archer" in Mongolian.

Xi first raised the idea of the targeted poverty relief in November 2013 when he visited a village in Huayuan, a county in the central province of Hunan.

He added that poverty alleviation measures should reach the people who truly need them and must deliver genuine outcomes.

In June, at a conference to discuss poverty alleviation measures and solutions with top officials from impoverished areas, including Horqin, Xi said lifting people out of poverty is one of the tasks to which he has devoted the most attention.

China's western areas have achieved the best results in poverty alleviation, the number of impoverished people has been halved in five years, but the West and a number of areas with large ethnic populations - including the Tibet autonomous region and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region - remain the biggest obstacles to achieving the goal of lifting the remaining 43.36 million people out of poverty on schedule.

Women take part in an embroidery class in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region's Horqin Right Wing Middle Banner to learn how to decorate clothes, slippers and pillowcases with traditional designs. Photos Provided to China Daily