WUHAN, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Hubei Province lifted about 1.05 million people out of poverty in 2018, with its poverty headcount ratio dropping to 2.4 percent, local authorities said.

A total of 963 impoverished villages in the province came out of poverty last year, said Cai Dangming, deputy chief of the provincial poverty alleviation office, during the annual session of the Hubei Provincial People's Congress.

Cai said that over the past five years, nearly 5 million people and more than 4,000 impoverished villages shook off poverty in Hubei.

In 2018, Hubei spent 4 billion yuan (590 million U.S. dollars) to help about 1.5 million students with financial difficulties. In the meantime, more than 130,000 dilapidated houses in the province were renovated with financial aid.

In 2019, Hubei plans to further lift 900,000 people, 800 impoverished villages and 17 impoverished counties out of poverty, said Cai.

China aims to eradicate absolute poverty by 2020.