By He Yin, People’s Daily
China has been deepening international cooperation in poverty reduction, continuously sharing its anti-poverty experiences with other developing countries.
For instance, the Cambodia-China Friendship Village for Poverty Alleviation Project has brought enormous changes to local impoverished villages, significantly improving villagers’ livelihood; and in Madagascar, with hands-on guidance from Chinese agricultural experts, local farmers saw a substantial increase in hybrid rice yields.
In Fiji, China’s Juncao technology has not only enabled local farmers to grow high-quality edible and medicinal mushrooms, but also boosted livestock farming by providing premium livestock feed; and in Guyana, solar-powered streetlights donated by Chinese companies illuminate the nights of Moraikobai village, making it safer in the dark for villagers.
These cooperation stories highlight China’s active role and lasting contributions to global poverty alleviation efforts.
“China will always be a member of the Global South, a reliable long-term partner of fellow developing countries, and a doer and go-getter working for the cause of global development,”
These remarks were made by Chinese President Xi Jinping in his speech on Fight Against Hunger and Poverty at the Session I of the 19th G20 Summit.
During the speech, Xi once again pointed out that prosperity and stability would not be possible in a world where the rich become richer while the poor are made poorer, and countries should make global development more inclusive, beneficial to all, and more resilient. He also outlined China’s eight actions for global development.
His remarks fully demonstrated that China, always maintaining a global vision, is committed to building a just world of common development with all parties and is always ready to help people in other developing countries break free from poverty.
China is always active in sharing its experiences in poverty alleviation and supporting developing countries in exploring their own unique approaches to poverty reduction and sustainable development in line with their specific national conditions.
China has hosted a range of seminars and exchange activities, including the ASEAN-China Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction, the International Forum on Sharing Poverty Reduction Experience, the Africa-China Poverty Reduction and Development Conference, and the International Seminar on Poverty Eradication and Responsibility of Political Parties, to share its poverty reduction experiences with other developing countries.
It has trained over 400,000 development personnel for over 180 countries and regions, significantly enhancing their capacity building in poverty reduction.
In August this year, during an official visit to China, Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji Sitiveni Rabuka toured two villages in Malipo county, Zhuang and Miao autonomous prefecture of Wenshan, southwest China’s Yunnan province, to learn about China’s poverty alleviation and rural revitalization.
He also visited a poverty eradication-themed exhibition in Ningde, southeast China’s Fujian province, where he had exchanges with the Party School of Ningde Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China on poverty reduction experiences and took extensive notes. He was impressed by the remarkable achievements in poverty eradication and development that China has accomplished under Xi’s leadership.
Pursuing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation is an important part of China’s eight actions for global development.
In 2019, Xi delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, during which he stressed, “We need to take a people-centered approach, give priority to poverty alleviation and job creation to see that the joint pursuit of Belt and Road cooperation will deliver true benefits to the people of participating countries and contribute to their social and economic development.”
Since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed over 11 years ago, China has signed BRI cooperation agreements with more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations, yielding a large number of signature projects and “small yet beautiful” programs focusing on improving people’s livelihood.
According to a research report by the World Bank, by 2030, the BRI is expected to lift 7.6 million people in partner countries out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty. The practical Belt and Road cooperation has provided significant momentum to global poverty reduction efforts.
Poverty alleviation is one of the eight priority areas of cooperation under the Global Development Initiative (GDI), and the implementation of the initiative will significantly advance global efforts to reduce poverty.
In 2021, Xi proposed the GDI at the general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, where he emphasized the importance to stay committed to development as a priority, stay committed to a people-centered approach, and stay committed to benefits for all. He said that the GDI aims to build a global community of development, safeguard and improve people’s livelihoods through development, and address unbalanced and inadequate development among and within countries.
Three years on, the GDI has helped make available nearly $20 billion in development funding and launch more than 1,100 projects. More than 100 countries and international organizations have supported and participated in the GDI, and more than 80 countries have joined the Group of Friends of the GDI.
China has consistently highlighted development as the “golden key” to tackling poverty issues.
In September this year, at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), Xi noted that China will work vigorously with Africa to promote personnel training, poverty reduction and employment, enhance the sense of gain, happiness and security of the people in the course of modernization, and ensure that all will benefit from the process.
He announced that in the next three years, China will work with Africa to take ten partnership actions for modernization, many of which will help African countries reduce poverty.
In addition, China is pursuing high-standard opening up, and unilaterally opening its doors wider to the least developed countries (LDCs). It has announced the decision to give all LDCs having diplomatic relations with China zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines. These measures expanding market access for their products are expected to improve people’s livelihood and deliver tangible poverty-reduction outcomes in these countries.
It is the common aspiration of developing countries to build a just world of common development, leave poverty in the past, and turn the vision of poverty eradication into reality. China will continue working hand in hand with other countries to create a world where peaceful development, mutual benefit, and shared prosperity are the hallmarks of modernization, and strive for the goal of eradicating poverty through common development.
