Despite leading the world in relieving poverty, China is still
facing challenges, an official from the China State Council Leading
Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development (LGOP) has
said.
"A widening income gap and an emerging number of poor migrant
workers are new difficulties," Wu Zhong, director of the department
of international affairs at LGOP, said.
These new factors are creating an additional problem for those
fighting to reduce the number of poor people in China, which has an
estimated 21.48 million people living in poverty.
To address the issue, China will host an international
conference on helping the world's poor and hungry people, in
Beijing on October 17-19.
The meeting is intended to share the country's experiences in
dealing with the problem as well as seek policy solutions, Wu
said.
Joint hosts include the International Food Policy Research
Institute, the International Poverty Reduction Center in China, and
the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
The three-day conference coincides with the Fifteenth
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, on October
17.
More than 400 delegates from 50 countries will attend the
meeting, including governments, international agencies, NGOs and
academics.
China's State Council leader and LGOP Director Fan Xiaojian,
International Food Policy Research Institute Director General
Joachim Von Braun, and President of International Fund for
Agricultural Development Lennart Bage will address the opening
ceremony.
China is the only country so far to have realized the United
Nations' Millennium Development Goals that commit to halving the
number of people in poverty.
The number of Chinese living in poverty has declined from 250
million in 1978 to 21.48 million in 2006.
(China Daily September 29, 2007)