China is leading the way to reduce poverty in Asia and the Pacific region, and contributing to other regional efforts like reforestation and energy efficiency to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), said an international report released in Manila on Monday.

In 1990 one person out of three in China lived in poverty, while today the number is below one in ten, said "The Millennium Development Goals: Progress in Asia and the Pacific 2007" (MDG 2007), a joint report by the United Nations and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The MDGs range from halving extreme poverty to reducing child mortality, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, providing universal primary education, and providing access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities by the target date of 2015. In 2000 all nations and international development institutions agreed upon a blueprint plan.

According to MDG 2007, a landmark report issued at the halfway point of 2015, China has already reduced its hunger and nutrition levels below the regional average. In some Chinese cities the rate is close to zero.

Reforestation efforts in China have also helped the Asia Pacific region to register an increase of forests and the country has managed to double its energy efficiency since 1990, according to the report.

China is also well on track for some other indicators such as promoting gender equality and empowering women, improving maternal health and reducing child mortality.

However, China still has a lot more to do to attain the goal of halving the proportion of rural population without access to safe drinking water and the number of HIV infections is rising faster in the country than the average figure of the Asia-Pacific region, the report stated.

(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2007)