An aid package worth nearly US$200 million over the next five
years has been launched, with the aim of solving the problems of
some of China's poorest and most vulnerable people.
Unveiled yesterday by the UK Department for International
Development (DFID) in Beijing, the Country Assistance Plan (CAP)
for China will see China receive around 105 million pounds in aid
from the British Government between now and 2011.
Western China will be the main beneficiary, with support for
programs tackling HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, solving water and
sanitation problems and providing basic education in areas
including Gansu, Sichuan, Henan, Yunnan and Xinjiang.
"When I visited China late last year I saw the achievements of
Chinese people in increasing access to quality basic education,
controlling tuberculosis, generating employment and responding to
climate change, and I know the government of China is deeply
concerned about these issues. I'm pleased that DFID can help find
solutions," said Gareth Thomas, the UK's under-secretary of state
for international development, in a speech recorded specially for
the event.
According to head of DFID in China Adrian Davis, the CAP for
China was devised with particular emphasis on the Millennium
Development Goals, an internationally agreed list of targets for
reducing poverty by 2015.
"We looked at the goals and decided which of the targets were
the most pressing for China and which we were most able to help
achieve," he said.
"The figures of money involved may sound large, but it actually
represents less than 0.1 percent of China's GDP China doesn't need
this in financial terms, but what we are able to offer is specific
skills and approaches where we have knowledge and experience that
China perhaps doesn't have."
In the field of education for example, the money will be spent
on projects such as the construction of new schools, teacher
training and improvement of education management and
administration.
Thanking Britain for its contribution to tackling poverty in
China, China's Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yin Zonghua said the
government was committed to eradicating poverty and associated
problems.
"The projects we have running such as the AIDS prevention
programs in Yunnan and Sichuan and the basic education project in
Gansu are an example of how successful we can be if we work
together hand in hand," he said.
"We are determined to work together with all countries including
Britain to solve these problems."
(China Daily May 19, 2006)