On Sunday in Washington a Chinese official urged developed countries to raise their aid to help the poorest countries overcome poverty in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations.

"Currently, the shortage of developmental financing remains the core constraint against any expected progress regarding the MDGs," said Li Yong, Chinese vice minister of finance, at a meeting of the World Bank's policy-making Development Committee.

The developed countries should take concrete steps to fulfill their obligations to scale up their official development assistance to reach the UN target of 0.7 percent of their gross national income, Li stressed.

Under the MDGs, people who live in poverty will be reduced in half by 2015. The goals were set at the UN summit in September 2000.

He said that the full achievement of MDGs depends heavily on the progress in the least developed countries, especially Africa.

"In this regard, the international community should focus on addressing critical economic growth constraints, promote the development of productive sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, and industry, and help other countries usher in a benign circle of growth, poverty reduction and development," the vice minister pointed out.

To promote the economic growth of the poorest countries, Li said, it is important to stress the input into productive sectors, especially bottleneck areas such as infrastructure and agriculture, while improving the domestic policy and institutional environment.

The public sector should play a leading and supplementary role when the private sector is yet to be fully developed.

And balance should be kept between short-term growth and long-term development, he added. "Sustainable development should be achieved by promoting economic growth while maintaining the sustainability of environment and social development."

In addition, economic growth requires an international trading system that provides equal opportunities for all parties to benefit, said Li.

"This calls for a stable and orderly international financial and monetary system, and a global economic system which facilitates the free flow of all production factors including labor and technology," he said. The Development Committee was holding its 77th meeting here Sunday as an important part of the 2008 spring meetings of the World Bank and its sister institution -- the International Monetary Fund.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2008)