Interview: China on "right track" to further progress -- Mexican scholar

MEXICO CITY, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Through poverty alleviation, China is on the "right track" to further progress, a Mexican scholar has said.

Due to the coordinated action taken by the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Chinese government and society, China has managed to lift 850 million people out of poverty over the past decades, contributing more than 70 percent to the global poverty alleviation efforts, said Eduardo Tzili-Apango in an interview with Xinhua.

"Undoubtedly, the process of eradicating poverty in China has been very successful," said Tzili-Apango.

Industrial development, rural entrepreneurship and digital technology are key factors in China's poverty alleviation, said the scholar.

China's strides in poverty reduction are of great significance when many countries are experiencing severe setbacks in their fight against poverty amid the health crisis caused by COVID-19, said Tzili-Apango.

Noting that poverty eradication is the first of the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, he said China has demonstrated "how to use development capabilities to be a responsible global player."

Tzili-Apango stressed that China's development experience is worth study since it is essential to promoting close international cooperation in order to improve the welfare of societies.

In China, as a result of the poverty alleviation efforts, people's purchasing power has improved, and the consumption of goods and services throughout the country has increased, Tzili-Apango said.

By the end of 2020, after eight years of efforts, China's nearly 100 million impoverished rural residents living below the current poverty line had shaken off poverty. In addition, all 832 national-level poverty-stricken counties have been removed from the poverty list.