The UK Ambassador to China said in Beijing yesterday that
China's economic development has not only positively impacted on
the world economy, but has also created an international model for
the reduction of poverty.
Christopher Hum was speaking at a G8 Seminar held by the
Commission for Africa (CFA) in the lead up to the G8 Summit in the
UK July 6-8.
According to a CFA report, about 400 million Chinese
successfully escaped from poverty between 1981 and 2001.
It said the surge of China-Africa trade provides a significant
model when studying poverty reduction approaches in Africa.
China has exempted tariffs for the 25 most underdeveloped
African nations and offered US$50 million to the Africa Development
Fund to help fight poverty.
African countries can learn from China's success in boosting the
private economy, increasing investment in infrastructure
construction and improving the policy implementation capability of
central and local governmental organs, Hum said.
"Africa needs to rely on its own efforts to develop, but it is
also the responsibility and duty of the international community to
offer assistance in this process," said Ji Peiding, vice-chairman
of the National People's Congress' Foreign Affairs Committee and
also a CFA commissioner.
Ji called on the international community, developed countries in
particular, to honor commitments to concrete actions such as
providing debt relief, bigger assistance and broader market access
to African countries.
The CFA was launched by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in February
2004, aiming to take a fresh look at Africa's past and present and
the international community's role in its development path.
(Xinhua News Agency June 8, 2005)