China's poverty reduction success proves institutional advantage: UN officials

China. 5 July. Kazakhstan Today - Many people around the world say China's ability to coordinate nationwide efforts to combat poverty lies in its socialist system with Chinese characteristics and that its system is the country's institutional advantage.

As a major developing country with over 1.3 billion people, China has gradually embarked on a successful path of reducing poverty through development with distinct Chinese features over the years.

Over 700 million of China's rural poor have been lifted out of poverty since the reform and opening up policy in the late 1970s was enacted. That number accounted for 70 percent of the world's total.

"We should not forget the fact that China has contributed the most in world poverty alleviation in the past decade," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said earlier this year on China's poverty reduction achievements.

Helen Clark, former United Nations Development Program Administrator, said: "The movement of people in China out of extreme poverty is the greatest, quickest movement that history has ever known! It is of historic proportions!"

In 2015, the Central Government's poverty alleviation and development conference was held in Beijing, setting the goal of eradicating extreme poverty in the country by 2020, 10 years earlier than the goal set by the UN.

Many people believe the reason for why China can coordinate such massive nationwide efforts lies in the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and that this is the country's institutional advantage.

Guterres pointed out the role of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, which serves as China's poverty reduction work coordinator. He thinks highly of the group's leading role in eradicating poverty. "The mechanism guarantees that all poverty-related issues will be solved and all measures will be implemented," he said.

In the eyes of other UN officials, China's success in poverty reduction is closely related to the Central leadership. "China's leadership is building a constructive and inclusive growth mode that provides more opportunities to achieve poverty reduction," Clark said.

China's poverty alleviation achievements indicate that targeted poverty reduction requires precision in choosing whom to help and overall arrangements as well as long-term plans, Guterres pointed out.

China's victory in the battle against poverty demonstrates to the world that economic growth and comprehensive poverty reduction can both be tackled at the same time, said Tsinghua University economist Hu Angang.

China's successful poverty reduction experience has drawn the attention of the world. Last October, officials from 15 developing countries, including Malawi, Ghana, and Kenya, came to Beijing to attend a seminar on public service and poverty reduction for developing countries.

Source: People's Daily

This information may not be reproduced without reference to Kazakhstan Today. Copyright of materials of News Agency Kazakhstan Today.