UN: China makes significant strides in poverty reduction

China has made significant strides in reducing poverty over the past 30 years, and China’s success has contributed directly to the attainment of key United Nations Millennium Development Goals, said a message from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered on Thursday in Beijing.

Ban welcomes the decision to designate Oct. 17 as China’s Poverty Reduction Day, to coincide with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. He believed this demonstrates the increasing importance that China attaches to poverty reduction, attention which comes at a critical juncture.

Ban’s message was delivered by Mr. Alain Noudehou, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in China, during the inaugural “10•17 Forum,” which adopted the theme “shared Prosperity through Poverty Alleviation.”

According to the UN Multidimensional Poverty Index, 2.2 billion people still live in abject poverty. Even in China, where 600 million people have been lifted from poverty over the past two decades, 90 million people live below the national poverty line. 

In January, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced a war against poverty. China is determined to lift 10 million rural residents out of poverty this year, said Liu Yongfu, Director of the Chinese State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

The State Council Information Office announced that China will launch the first National Poverty Alleviation Day on Oct. 17 as part of a major campaign to raise public awareness about poverty.