Vice Premier Hui Liangyu said yesterday in Beijing that China is committed to assisting with poverty relief efforts in Asia and the rest of the world.

He made the remarks at the Second ASEAN Plus Three High-level Workshop on Poverty Reduction, which was attended by officials from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

China would further strengthen its role in poverty reduction in Asia and the world and gradually increase its assistance to poverty-stricken countries, Hui said.

The cooperation between ASEAN and the three East Asian nations had been developing quickly and healthily to produce great contributions to global poverty reduction, said Seoung Rathchavy, deputy secretary-general of the ASEAN Secretariat.

Statistics show that the number of poor living under US$1 a day in East Asia and the Pacific Region fell from 730 million in 1990 to 465 million in 2004. There were substantial improvements in the various indicators used to assess impoverished regions and countries, Rathchavy said.

"As the region builds more trust and cooperation on various areas of economy and security there's still much to be desired from the cooperation," she noted.

In order to expand consensus and secure strong follow-ups to the goals developed at the workshop the Beijing Proposal of the Second ASEAN Plus Three High-level Workshop on Poverty Reduction was released yesterday.

Drafted by the China State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development the proposal would put in place a mechanism for regular ministerial meetings. According to the proposal the ministers would gather regularly and each country take its turn at hosting.

The proposal also called for the launch of a regional poverty reduction forum to oversee the implementation of the plans and actions approved at the ministerial meetings.

Beijing also proposed to establish a regional anti-poverty exchange and co-operation platform. The International Poverty Reduction Center in China (IPRCC), set up by China and UNDP in 2005, has committed itself to inviting 1,000 poverty reduction officials from ASEAN countries to participate in training and exchanges in China over the next five years.

The number of Chinese people living in absolute poverty (an annual per capita income under 683 yuan, or US$85.38) has decreased from 125 million in 1985 to 23.65 million by the end of 2005.

(China Daily September 26, 2006)