| Chinese President Xi Jinping"s proposals on eradicating global poverty through sustainable development have been lauded by various leaders and experts worldwide as a key, very feasible and effective way to overcome the long-standing problem on our planet. During the annual session of the UN General Assembly in New York in late September, Xi advocated an equitable, open, all-round and innovation-driven development path to relieve poverty worldwide, stressing that no country should be left behind. Among other endeavors, Xi pledged a fund with an initial contribution by China of 2 billion U.S. dollars to support South-South cooperation and assist developing countries in implementing the Post-2015 development agenda adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit. Delivering a keynote speech at the Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum in Beijing on Friday, Xi announced that the Chinese government will enact more policies to lift the country"s 70 million poor people out of poverty by 2020. The forum gathered around 300 worldwide representatives to share their experience in combating poverty, while Saturday marks the 23rd International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and China"s second National Poverty Relief Day. Xi said at the forum that China will prioritize poverty alleviation as a major part of national post-2015 agenda. China is recognized by the world as the country which has best met the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Since 1978, when the reform and opening up policy was first adopted in China, the country has lifted more than 700 million of its citizens out of poverty, becoming the first developing country to meet the MDGs of reducing poor population by half by 2015. While striving to reduce poverty at home, China has also been actively supporting the cause in other developing countries. Over the past 60 years, China has provided 166 countries and international organizations with nearly 400 billion yuan of assistance. In a video message for Friday"s forum, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised China"s remarkable achievements in poverty alleviation, saying the UN welcomes the significant and generous proposals of Xi and looks forward to further progress with an indispensable partnership with China. Since the adoption of the MDGs, China has contributed to global endeavor for poverty eradication, accounting for two-thirds of the world"s reduction in extreme poverty, Wu Hongbo, UN under-secretary-general for economic and social affairs, told Xinhua. "We can say that without China"s contribution, the international community could hardly achieve the target of halving the extremely poor population by 2015," Wu said. In addition, it is widely recognized that China has been offering its support to countries in need to promote global sustainable development, he noted. "And I believe in the future China will continue to help developing countries within its capacity." UN Development Program Chief Helen Clark said China"s ideas and successful experience can be shared by other countries facing similar challenges. "China has been a very proactive developmental state. The policy of the state is development, to lift the people out of poverty, to move to a modern society. This has been the driving cause of the Chinese leadership, and that determination and that drive have got incredible results," she told Xinhua after the UN General Assembly. "China did a marvelous job in cutting by half extreme poverty in the last 15 years, but we all have to realize that if we should globally totally eradicate poverty, we have to walk on a different path ... I comment very highly the Chinese initiatives announced by President Xi Jinping during the General Assembly," Mogens Lykketoft, president of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, told Xinhua. "It"s the strongest performance of economic growth we have seen for such a large country anytime during human history. And it has made the biggest contribution to the reduction of extreme poverty in this world," he said. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim also sees a connection in development and poverty reduction, as is shown in his support to the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. "Anyone who cares about poverty and inequality would welcome a bank that says it is going to help developing countries grow their economy and increase jobs for its people," he said. Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said the establishment of funds for South-South Cooperation revealed China"s resolution to directly fight poverty, which is welcomed by the UN members. At a summit on South-South Cooperation during the UN General Assembly, Xi put forth a "Six 100s" initiative, in which China will make available to other developing countries in the next five years hundreds of programs on poverty reduction, agriculture, trade, environment and climate, health care and education. Diaa al-Fiqqy, secretary-general of Chinese-Egyptian commerce chamber board of directors, deemed the aid announced by Xi as "great, generous and very important" for developing countries. As a great contributor for the global poverty-relief cause, China"s poverty relief achievements synchronize with its rapid economic development over the past decades. Its experience shows that poverty alleviation is a mission possible with steady economic growth and social development. Over the past decades, China has provided help to more than 120 developing countries in their efforts to achieve the goals. As the country still faces challenges to realize its goal of lifting all people out of poverty by 2020, it will continue to support other developing countries in poverty reduction and future development. "We are ready to share our development experience and opportunities with other countries and welcome them to board China"s express train of development so that all of us will achieve common development," Xi said. |
