Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 25, 2004
China's eradicating poverty, hunger 'on track', UN report
China is "on track" in eradicating extreme poverty and hunger with the state of its supportive environment "well developed", says a UN report launched here Thursday.
China is "on track" in eradicating extreme poverty and hunger with the state of its supportive environment "well developed", says a UN report launched here Thursday.
The report, "Millennium Development Goals: China's Progress", says "China has now achieved its MDG poverty reduction goals by halving its poor on the basis of the 85 million 1990 figure."
"China's poverty reduction reflects the government's efforts toward overall growth and development combined with significant policy and budgetary support for poverty reduction," says the report.
According to the report, such efforts include the current poverty reduction policy covering the period from May 2001 to 2010,and the western region development strategy. China has also taken many measures to ensure grain production.
It says, using the government poverty line, China's rural poor decreased dramatically from 250 million in 1978 (30.7 percent of the rural population) to 85 million in 1990 (9.4 percent of the rural population) and then to 30 million in 2000 (3.2 percent of the rural population).
At the same time, China is "ahead of target" in lowering the proportion of people living below minimum dietary consumption levels, with the rate falling from 17 percent in 1990 to 11 percent in 2000.
It is also "ahead of target" in reducing the percentage of underweight children from 21 percent in 1990 to 10 percent in 1998.
To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger is one of the MDGs outlined during a UN Summit in September 2000.