World Bank chief lauds China's role in global anti-poverty cause

China has an important role to play in realizing global poverty reduction targets, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said on the occasion of Chinese President Xi Jinping's scheduled attendance at the UN Sustainable Development Summit.

"We think it is extremely important that President Xi has decided to come, visit the United States and also come to this meeting," Kim told Chinese media at the bank's New York office in a group interview on Thursday.

"We are adopting the Sustainable Development Goals and the Number 1 Sustainable Development Goal is to end extreme poverty. President Xi is representing a country that has lifted more people out of extreme poverty than any country in the history in the world," he added.

More than 150 world leaders are expected to attend the Sept. 25-27 event at the UN headquarters to formally adopt a new sustainable development agenda for the next 15 years.

Kim praised China for "not only focusing on its own growth but is focusing on helping other countries grow."

"This is an image I think that many people in the world need to see."

Talking about the Sept. 26 High-level Round Table on South-South Cooperation co-hosted by China and the UN, he noted the focus is not only on development funding, but also on knowledge share.

"What we want to stress is that many of the greatest innovations in development have happened in developing countries. Of course, many of those innovations have happened in China. We want to help to facilitate the exchange of knowledge between developing countries," he said.

The World Bank chief also reaffirmed his support to the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

"Anyone who cares about poverty and inequality would welcome a bank that says it is going to help developing countries grow their economy and increase jobs for its people," he said, adding that "Not only do we welcome it, we are also actively looking for ways for us to work together.

On climate change, Kim said that "China has already made many strong commitments in reducing greenhouse gas emission."

"The agreement with the United States that was announced in November last year was really very important. We fully expect China to play a leadership role in getting from here to an agreement in Paris."