OREANDA-NEWS. The Anhui provincial government approved a five-year program for the Dabie Mountain region recently, agreeing to strengthen efforts on poverty reduction and regional development in that area, local authorities said on Thursday.

The program aims to increase the local gross domestic product (GDP) and fiscal revenue to 180 billion yuan (USD 29 billion) and 9 billion yuan by 2015, respectively.

Meanwhile, urbanites' per capita disposable income will exceed 20,000 yuan, while rural residents' per capita net income will reach a minimum of 7,000 yuan, the program said.

Up to 3,041 projects are now under way or set to be launched, covering areas including infrastructure, industries, public services and the environment. They will cost an estimated 722 billion yuan, of which nearly 60 percent is to be appropriated by the national and provincial governments, Yu Shihao, an official with the Anhui Provincial Development and Reform Commission said, citing figures from the program.

While giving its approval to the blueprint, the government called for greater efforts to enhance the development of "ecological civilization", nurture competitive industries, improve working and living conditions and reform social systems and mechanisms.

The region surrounding the Dabie Mountain, located on the border among provinces of Hubei, Henan and Anhui, is among China's 11 poverty-stricken areas that enjoy special support from the central government.