A/HRC/45/14/Add.1 and other forms of lifelong learning. There are some modern and well-equipped Universities of the Third Age, such as the one the Independent Expert visited in Shenzhen. At the same time, overall resources remain scarce and the Independent Expert notes disparities in development between urban and rural areas as well as among the regions. There is also a need to strengthen departmental coordination, as well as the depth and breadth of social participation.26 D. Adequate standard of living 33. In recent years, China has made remarkable achievements in significantly reducing poverty.27 It has incorporated the alleviation and elimination of old-age poverty into the national anti-poverty strategy and development plan. 28 At the same time, deep poverty remains an outstanding issue as further poverty alleviation becomes more and more difficult. As of September 2018, over 670 counties in the country were still povertystricken.29 Older persons belong to those groups that are particularly at risk with around 7 per cent living below the poverty line.30 Particularly affected by poverty in old age are older women, older persons belonging to ethnic minorities and older persons with disabilities. 31 Moreover, older persons living in rural areas enjoy much lower levels of social protection than those living in urban areas.32 34. The goal of lifting persons living in rural areas out of poverty is enshrined in the thirteenth Five-Year Plan (2016–2020) and all governmental levels and the Communist Party have been instructed to give it the highest priority. The plan, however, does not include specific measures directed at eliminating extreme poverty in urban areas.33 In order to take poverty alleviation action and ensure that old-age poverty is not overlooked, it would be vital to determine a clear poverty line for the various urban areas, instead of the existing subsistence allowance lines that are set under different standards by different cities.34 35. China has established special preferential policies for older persons focusing on health care, transportation, business services, and museum and cultural activities. These measures are important and of benefit to older persons, and they foster participation and social inclusion. As specific benefits designed for older persons also depend on local regulations, different programmes do not uniformly recognize the definition of older persons set by the law, which includes persons aged 60 or older. There are significant disparities not only between cities, but also depending on the objective of a regulation, and further harmonization is needed. 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 8 Ibid., p. 17. CERD/C/CHN/CO/14-17, para. 4. Government submission on the protection of rights and interests of older persons in China, p. 11. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), China Institute for Development Planning at Tsinghua University and State Information Center, China National Human Development Report Special Edition: In Pursuit of a More Sustainable Future for All: China’s Historic Transformation over Four Decades of Human Development (Beijing, China Publishing Group Corporation, China Translation & Publishing House, 2019), p. 229. A/HRC/35/26/Add.2, para. 17. Ibid., paras. 38 and 44; CERD/C/CHN/CO/14-17, para. 19 (b). UNDP, China National Human Development Report Special Edition, p. 232. A/HRC/35/26/Add.2, paras. 18 and 20. UNDP, China National Human Development Report Special Edition, p. 235.