BEIJING, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Top Chinese legislator, Wu Bangguo, has urged government departments to take effective measures to solve shortages of drinking water and improve the living standards for residents in an impoverished northwestern area of the country.

"It is a long-term strategic task and an urgent livelihood project to improve the environment and basic living standards in the impoverished areas in Ningxia," said Wu Bangguo during an inspection in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Wu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, urged officials to solve the region's drinking water problem in about three years and accelerate the evacuation of local residents to places with better environment.

Wu Bangguo (2nd L), chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, inspects a paper manufacture enterprise of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Sept. 11, 2010. Wu made an inspection tour in Ningxia from Sept. 10 to 14

With an inhospitable natural environment coupled with a severe ongoing drought, the central and southern regions of Ningxia are one of the key impoverished areas for the country to support.

Wu visited a mountainous village called Haigou, where the average annual income per capita is only about 2,700 yuan (400 U.S. dollars).

Some 251 villagers of the Hui ethnic group are living in the village, and they have been suffering shortages of drinking water due to water and soil losses.
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