Asian Political Parties Hail CPC's Poverty Alleviation Efforts

Asian political parties said here Sunday they admire China's poverty alleviation efforts, giving credit to the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Representatives of 55 political parties from the Asia-Pacific region made the comments in a proposal on the sidelines of a poverty alleviation conference.

"We express our admiration for China's success in lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty within a generation," the proposal read. "This is a historical and unique economic and social achievement for which the CPC and its wise leadership deserve credit."

The Kunming Proposal on Poverty Alleviation, adopted at the Poverty Alleviation Conference of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties, calls for political parties, governments, parliaments, NGOs, civic organizations and the international community to pursue the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to alleviate poverty.

The MDGs established in 2000 include: halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 from 1990 levels; improving health and education; empowering women; and ensuring environmental stability.

China's rural population living in poverty fell from 250 million in 1978 to 35.97 million in 2009.

Delegates attending the conference in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, also discussed innovative ways to eradicate poverty.

They had discussions on setting up an Asian anti-poverty fund initiative, an Asian micro-finance fund and on the final implementation of a UN-approved debt-swap proposals.

The meeting also lauded international cooperation in poverty reduction, as well as the debt relief actions taken by several nations.

(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2010)