UNDP administrator praises China's poverty reduction experience

BEIJING - The new administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Achim Steiner, spoke highly of China's experience in poverty alleviation in an exclusive interview, and said he looks forward to further cooperation between China and the UNDP.

China has not only made remarkable achievements in poverty alleviation over the years, but has also dedicated itself to shared development with other countries through the Belt and Road Initiative, Steiner told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Steiner was the executive director of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) from 2006 to 2016. He was named UNDP administrator in April this year.

Steiner said that over the past decades, China has lifted 700 million people out of poverty, contributing more than 70 percent of global poverty reduction, and the country now maintains a relatively high growth rate in a global economic downturn.

"The achievement China made is outstanding in both scale and time. No other country has done it before," Steiner said, and he pointed out the underlying reason behind it has been China's economic success, which has provided enormous financial resources to invest in addressing poverty.

Aside from its own development, China has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative and forging a community of shared future for humankind. These proposals will enable China to carry out closer cooperation with other countries, Steiner added.

"UNDP has received $17 million from China over the past 6 months to support post disaster response projects in Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan and the Caribbean," Steiner said. "UNDP and China share many common visions in international cooperation. By working together, the two can speed up the pace in meeting goals set out by the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development."

Headquartered in New York City, UNDP is the United Nations' global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build better lives.