China released a report on sustainable development on June 1, ahead of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 20-22.

The report focuses on the efforts and progress China has made since 2001 in implementing sustainable development strategies. It also analyzes existing gaps and challenges, puts forward future strategic initiatives, and clarifies China's positions for the upcoming conference.

From 2000 to 2010, the number of Chinese people living below the poverty line decreased from 94.22 million to 26.88 million, with the poverty rate dropping from 10.2 percent to 2.8 percent, according to poverty relief standards that have since been revised.

Meanwhile, China has managed to raise energy efficiency year by year in major energy-consuming industries. Compared with 2005, the energy consumption per unit of industrial added-value had a cumulative decline of 26 percent by 2010.

While outlining China's progress in promoting sustainable development, the report also acknowledges a range of challenges ahead.

China's per-capita GDP ranks 100th in the world and there are still 122 million people living in poverty according to the updated standard.

Moreover, given the severe resources and environmental constraints on economic development, pronounced unevenness in development among regions, and weak scientific and technological innovation capacities, China still faces an arduous task of improving people's livelihood, the report says.