China has made a remarkable achievement in poverty alleviation and rural development, and can become a key partner of the UN World Food Program (WFP) and other UN humanitarian institutions, a top WFP official said on Wednesday.

"I has visited many places in China over the past two decades, and appreciate the country's rapid progress in rural development and poverty alleviation," WFP Executive Director James T. Morris told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

He recalled his talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during his last visit to China, saying that he admired China's strong will for rural construction, particularly in the fields of agricultural production and infrastructure building.

China has addressed food concerns of such a huge population and made tremendous contributions to the world in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It also played a great role in global efforts in shrugging off poverty, the official said.

He noted the WFP has worked with China for years and provided food aid to over 30 million Chinese. Thanks to its economic development, China does not have to rely on food assistance now.

The WFP ended its 26-year-long food aid program in China at the end of last year.

More than 800 million people, however, were still in hunger in the world and among them 300 million were children. The mission of the WFP is to offer food to those mired in poverty and starvation, Morris said.

As China has scored a great achievement in economic development and boasts important resources, Morris said he hoped the country could turn into a partner of the WFP and give a hand to the international bloc.

"I hope China will carry out more cooperation with multilateral groups, contribute to the world humanitarian cause and become an important partner of the WFP and other UN humanitarian organs," Morris said.

The official recommended that China share its experience in poverty reduction and rural development with other nations and help them in these domains.

He attributed China's achievement in the two fields to the government's determination and strengthened efforts. He commended Beijing's encouragement policies, like helping and encouraging farmers and rural residents to make technological innovation.

"The policies aroused enthusiasm of the growers and realized the aims of encouraging agricultural production and increasing output," Morris said.

He also lauded China's policies for children, such as offering nutritious food and access to education to them by scrapping tuitions and miscellaneous fees.

"These are admirable moves which prove that the Chinese government has realized the significance of tackling hunger and children issues to a nation's future," Morris said.

Source: Xinhua