Thirty Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have won a competition for poverty-alleviation ideas organized by the World Bank, it was announced on Friday.

The winners will share a total of US$660,000 in funds donated by international development agencies and private companies to support the proposed projects. The World Bank itself does not provide any money.

The award-winning projects, selected from 1,000 candidates, ranged from sheep-raising and AIDS prevention among migrant workers, to mutual assistance networks for garbage collecting and establishing community service centres for deaf children and youths.

World Bank officials said NGOs are in a unique position to understand local conditions and generate project ideas accordingly.

"Ideas are more important than money when it comes to development," said David Dollar, the World Bank's country director for China.

It was the first time that the World Bank organized such an event, called Development Marketplace, in China.

Dollar said they will organize the event again next year.

World Bank Vice-President Frannie Leautier said she hoped the winning ideas of the competition would encourage people to be more innovative in development ideas.

On Tuesday, six NGOs in east China's Jiangxi Province won US$1.36 million to implement poverty alleviation projects around China.

Li Yong, deputy director of the Ministry of Civil Affairs' Bureau of Administration of NGOs, said the winning NGOs should take this opportunity to enhance their management capabilities and try to be efficient in using the money.

China's threshold for poverty, which varies according to price changes, currently stands at 900 yuan (US$111) per year. At the end of 2005 there were around 50 million Chinese people living at or below this threshold.

(China Daily February 25, 2006)