BEIJING, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- China lifted 740 million people in rural areas out of poverty from 1978 to 2017, roughly 19 million each year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

The poverty ratio in rural areas dropped 94.4 percentage points during the same time period with an average annual decrease of 2.4 percentage points, according to the NBS.

NBS data shows that China's poverty relief achievements have contributed more than 70 percent to global poverty alleviation work in the past 40 years.

The average annual income of rural residents in impoverished areas rose an average of 10.4 percent each year from 2012 to 2017, up 2.5 percentage points from the average for rural residents.

Over the past five years, over 68 million people were lifted out of poverty in China. The country aims to further lift 10 million people out of poverty this year and eradicate poverty by 2020.

China recently released guidelines on winning the battle against poverty in the next three years in order to prepare the nation for eradicating poverty by 2020.

According to the guidelines, the impoverished people should be guaranteed food and clothing, and children from poor families should be guaranteed a nine-year compulsory education. Basic medical needs and living conditions of the impoverished should also be guaranteed.

People whose annual income is lower than 2,300 yuan (337.3 U.S. dollars) are defined as living below the poverty line in China.