China now ranks 85th on the Human Development Index, compared with the 105th position it held in 1990.

This is revealed in the "2005 Human Development Report" published worldwide by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

However, the report warns that China's economic advancement has outpaced social progress meaning the country faces the challenge of ensuring that income growth is converted into sustained progress in non-income dimensions of human development.

The report also recognizes China's achievements in poverty relief over the last 30 years, saying that if China's achievements were not recorded, the world would have actually regressed in its progress towards poverty alleviation.

"China has been the world's fastest growing economy over the past two decades, with per capita incomes rising threefold. The country has climbed 20 places in the Human Development Index ranking to 85th since 1990," said Khalid Malik, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in China, at Thursday's ceremony to launch the report in Beijing.

The report further points to the scale of regional inequality within China. For example, according to the report, if Guizhou (a southwestern province in China) were a country, it would rank just above Namibia, while Shanghai (a metropolis in east China) would rank alongside Portugal on the Human Development Index.

Presented to heads of state and government one week before they meet in New York for a crucial UN summit to review progress made towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the report is a reminder to world leaders to fulfill the commitments they made to the world's poor five years ago.

Published every year since 1990, the Human Development Reports provide an update on development problems and recommendations for their solutions, each time with a new theme. This year's report focuses on inequalities and the three pillars of international cooperation -- aid, trade and security, arguing that swift and dramatic changes in international cooperation are vital for attainment of the MDGs.

"The world has the knowledge, resources and technology to end extreme poverty, but time is running out," said UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis.

The report examines the links between global aid, trade and security policies to lift the poorest out of extreme poverty. "The world's highest trade barriers are erected against some of its poorest countries," says the publication.

It asserts that donor countries have failed to act on their commitment to a development agenda at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The status quo for international trade regulation therefore must be changed.

These rules deny the poorest countries access to this proven and essential development path, said Khalid Malik. "China, for example, is perhaps the world's greatest development success story in the recent decades. Under current WTO trade rules, however, China's ascent would have never been possible and over 200 million people would still have been languishing in extreme poverty," he added.

The report concludes that international cooperation must be reshaped in the three areas: aid, trade and security. Increased aid without fairer trade rules will not be enough. More effective rules in international trade will count little in countries where violent conflict blocks opportunities to participation.

(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2005)