Since the nation's reform and opening up, China has contributed significantly to global poverty-reduction efforts by slashing the level of poverty in rural areas by 228 million in twenty-eight years.

Liu Jian, Deputy Director of the State Council's Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, made remarks at a training session on poverty alleviation for officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including China, South Korea (ROK), and Japan (ASEAN 10+3), held in Nanning on May 26th.

From 1978 to 2006, Liu said, China lifted 228 million rural residents out of extreme poverty, cutting their number from 250 million to 21.48 million. The rate of extreme poverty in these areas dropped from 30 percent to 2.3 percent.

The World Bank believes that without the Chinese contribution to poverty alleviation, the global poverty level would be on the rise. Related statistics demonstrate that up to now, China is the only country that has realized ahead of schedule, the United Nations Millennium Goal of slashing poverty levels in half.

According to the Chinese way of alleviating poverty, the government takes the lead in mobilizing all social forces, and encouraging poor people to be self-reliant, Liu said.

Liu pointed out that, despite this progress, arduous long-term efforts are still needed. The remaining 20 million or so poor people do not make up a fixed population, but rather recede and re-appear among the nation's 100 million people who need help. Many farmers who have just crossed the poverty line and into the clear, are still living under vulnerable economic conditions; and any slight change in the conditions of the climate, market or family could send them back into poverty.

By People's Daily Online