Twenty-five minutes is hardly enough time to pick the brain of a distinguished economist, an economist on Time magazine's 2004 and 2005 list of the 100 most influential people in the world. But then he hardly has time, for he has to rush to deliver a private lecture at the United Nations' office in Beijing.

Jeffrey Sachs is special advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and more. For more than 20 years, he has been at the forefront to meet the challenges of economic development, poverty alleviation and enlightened globalization. The policies he promotes are aimed at helping people across the world to benefit from the increasing economic opportunities.

But perhaps what he is best known for is fighting to combine economic development with environmental sustainability. And as the director of Earth Institute he leads large-scale efforts to promote the mitigation of human-induced climate change.

The former Harvard University professor has authored hundreds of scholarly articles and many books, including the New York Times bestseller, The End of Poverty. According to the book, it was possible to alleviate extreme poverty throughout the world, especially in Africa, by 2025. To establish his point, he cited the example of China, saying it lifted 300 million people out of poverty in two decades.

So why did he pick China? "I believe China's role (in Africa) has been very positive, very important and very much appreciated by the African governments, partly because its help has been very practical, while what Africans hear in the US and Europe sometimes isn't so practical. They're more like lectures, talks and promises not delivered."

"China is helping with roads and power plants, railways and purchases of commodities and foreign investment. No country knows how to build infrastructure like China. It can really help African countries connect with the rest of the world."

One key indicator of the importance of China's relationship with Africa was the recent African Development Bank (AfDB) Group's annual meeting. Instead of being held in an African city, it was organized in Shanghai. Of course, Sachs was one of the participants. "That was an interesting development because traditionally the AfDB holds its meetings in Africa. The fact that it was held in China reflects the importance of the country for Africa's development."

China's experience in economic development and how it has achieved the "balance between the public and the private", is what African countries need to learn from. Sachs, who has advised a number of economies on reforms, including the erstwhile Soviet Union, South America and some African countries, talks to Chinese officials regularly on how the country can best support development on the continent.

"Africa definitely needs private sector development, but it also needs power plants, railways and roads, special economic zones, a better industrial policy and a green revolution in agriculture." Many of the things that China has developed can help Africa right now. That's one of the prime reasons why China can play a constructive role in the continent."

Actually, it already has. Official figures show that till the end of last year, China had invested $11.7 billion in Africa, with the trade volume between the two sides hitting $55.5 billion - an annual growth rate of more than 30 percent in the last five years.

Also, China could help resolve one of the biggest issues in the world today: Darfur. Sachs says China can use its close relations with Sudan to bring peace and prosperity in the Darfur regions. He is against imposing sanctions on the Sudanese Government, as proposed by some Western governments, to resolve the issue.

"At the core of the Darfur issue is extreme poverty. People are fighting in Sudan because they are impoverished. So if China helps with development programs in Darfur, it would be a very positive contribution to peace."

Though he praises China's success in economic development, he says the country still faces many challenges, including rural poverty, environmental crisis, the rich and poor divide and the lack of social services.

Environmental degradation in China, the world's second biggest carbon dioxide (CO2) emitter, poses a great threat to its long-term development, he says. It has to take pro-active steps now, before it's too late.

Since China is a coal-based economy, it should try out "carbon sequestration" at several demonstration sites in the next three years to use coal in a safer and cleaner way. Carbon sequestration refers to long-term storage of carbon in the terrestrial biosphere, underground, or the oceans so that the build-up of CO2 (the principal greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere is reduced or slowed down.

"Carbon sequestration is a promising technology," Sachs says. But experts have never tried it on a large scale. Hence, it's important that China tries it on a wider scale and prepares a road map on how and where to use it.

Sachs is working on a reasonable and fair solution to strike a balance between China's economic development and its climate problems. "I'm trying to find a solution that wouldn't hurt any of the groups. And I believe that such a solution can be found."

China's rapid urbanization, however, will continue, he says. That actually would be a good thing, for it would help narrow the income gap with more people joining the "urban economy". But the urbanization strategy to deal with the increase in population and to make urban areas better places to live in are still a big issue.

In his new project, "China 2049", Sachs is trying to find the best strategies to meet the needs of the rising population by studying possible scenarios in the country 40 years from now. The idea is to view what the economy would look like 100 years after the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

The project is likely to be launched later this year, largely through a network of Chinese and American scholars. "Most of the time when we think ahead we don't think that far," he says. "Of course it is impossible to predict what would happen in 2049. But it is possible to try to gain some ideas."

Like any of his other ideas, this too is expected to help a lot of people - not immediately perhaps, but in the future.

(China Daily 06/13/2007 page12)