Guo Weimin: Share China's experience in poverty reduction

Guo Weimin, vice minister of the State Council Information Office (SCIO), delivered a keynote speech titled "Share China's Experience in Poverty Reduction; Promote Global Poverty Alleviation Governance" during the 2017 China Poverty Reduction International Forum in Beijing on May 26.

Guo highlighted China's progress and achievements in poverty relief, and thanked the international community for its support for poverty relief in China on behalf of the SCIO. He said that the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government have put poverty alleviation in a more prioritized position since the 18th National Congress of the CPC to ensure that by 2020, all poor counties and over 70 million poor people in rural areas can be lifted out of poverty.

Over the past five years, the number of poor people in China has decreased by over 10 million annually, and the poverty rate has fallen to 4.5 percent, he added.

Guo stressed the importance of sharing poverty-relieving experience, and cooperating with the world in this field. Poverty-relieving stories are valuable for Chinese people and other countries as they will encourage people to put more efforts into this global cause.

He also pointed out that to lift 700 million people worldwide out of extreme poverty requires global endeavor. The Chinese government attaches great importance to the cooperation with other developing countries and international organizations, aiming to draw on and share the experience to fulfill its commitment and responsibility in poverty reduction.

In his speech, Guo also introduced several major platforms of sharing China's experience on poverty reduction and promoting global poverty alleviation governance. Supported by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, the China Internet Information Center and the International Poverty Reduction Center in China jointly launched a website in May last year to share poverty reduction knowledge among South-South cooperation countries, which has developed into a world-class platform to share Chinese practice and world experience in poverty alleviation.

Guo also said that the upcoming 19th National Congress of CPC will drive Chinese poverty alleviation into a new stage, and offer more "Chinese dividend" to the global cause of poverty reduction. The SCIO will continue its efforts in bridging the communication between China and the world and in achieving the goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030 together with other countries in the world.