Fast economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region has created an Asian miracle in poverty relief, and in the next 15 years, China may continue the miracle in poverty reduction, a senior UN official said in Shanghai Thursday.

Kim Hak-su, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), made the remarks during an interview with Xinhua on the sideline of a special meeting on poverty reduction as the 60th Session of ESCAP is convened in Shanghai. About 70 percent of Asia's people in dire poverty lived in China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Indonesia, according to Kim. Among the five, China and India worked well in poverty reduction and China in particular has already realized the Millennium Goal of reducing half of its poor people by 2015.

A Chinese official attending the meeting said China's success boosted the confidence of the UN. "The United Nations is full of confidence to realize its Millennium Goal of poverty reduction, and China's performance increased their confidence," said Wu Hong, an official from the poverty reduction office under the Chinese State Council.

Wu told the ESCAP conference that China's contribution to Asia's poverty reduction is transferring from simply reducing the number of domestic poor to sharing its experience with other countries and offering them necessary assistance.

During the past 20 years, the Chinese government adopted special measures for poverty reduction, including setting up a special agency to ensure the process of its poverty reduction programs, and reducing tax in some poor region. In addition, China also encouraged private investors and non-governmental organizations to join hands with the government in poverty reduction.

According to the latest UN report on China's performance in realizing the Millennium Goal, China has realized the goal by helping a total of 220 million people out of poverty from 1978 to 2000, cutting its absolute poor from 250 million to 30 million.

As a result, more children in China's remote rural areas now have access chances to schooling, medical care, transport and electricity. But there is still a long way for China to go in reducing the number of its entire poor people. In 2001, the Chinese government made a new ten-year plan of poverty reduction, targeting the remaining 30 million absolute poor and 60 million other poor people, whose number account for about 10 percent of China's rural population.

China will also strengthen its cooperation with other countries of the region in this area, said Wu. United Nations Under-Secretary-General Anwarul Chowdhury, who is also the UN High representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, said China may share its successful experience in poverty reduction with other countries in the Asian-Pacific region and help them with necessary technical support. Kim said in the next 15 years, the whole Asia will still face a big challenge to bring 400 million people out of poverty. He expressed his belief that China will continue its significant contribution to Asia's poverty reduction.

Source: Xinhua