China's poverty eradication brings hope to poor nations

WASHINGTON－China's elimination of absolute poverty is a "great historic accomplishment", bringing hope and providing lessons to poor countries in the world, said renowned economist and bestselling author Jeffrey Sachs.

"This is wonderful news. It's a great historic accomplishment. China has done more to reduce extreme poverty in a short period of time than any other country in history,"Sachs, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, said in a recent interview.

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese leadership did not delay the goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2020, but has taken forceful actions to contain the spread of the virus and continued the fight against poverty, said Sachs, who is also a senior United Nations adviser.

"So rather than postponing the goal, China said we need to stop the virus. And I think that was the right strategy," said Sachs."No one knew whether it could be done, but China showed that it could be done."

Sachs served as special adviser to three UN secretaries-general from 2001 to 2018, and is currently director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. He has authored numerous books, including The New York Times bestseller The End of Poverty.

Sachs first visited China in 1981, and has been "watching closely" the country's development for almost 40 years.

Looking back, Sachs said China has adopted a variety of poverty alleviation strategies in different periods, and the overall strategy starting around 1980 was to promote "broad-based economic development".

Noting that reform and opening-up are crucial, Sachs said China has achieved fast growth during the past decades, which is "extraordinary".

"The government directed resources to human development, especially to education, healthcare and decent nutrition and this made for a healthier, well-educated and more productive population."

Despite varied circumstances in different countries, China's poverty alleviation efforts provide valuable lessons for developing countries across the globe, Sachs said.

Sachs laid out three key lessons from China's practice, with the first one setting clear goals.

"Targets are very important in human life because they keep us focused. They keep us moving forward," he said.

The second lesson is good capacity for planning, Sachs said, highlighting China's National Development and Reform Commission and the whole planning structure.

"So creating a framework able to look ahead in a systematic way and plan for five-to 10-year horizons what to do is extremely important," he said.

The third is a broad-based strategy that combines public investment and market-based growth in infrastructure, healthcare and education.

"It's the combination of the two that has been very effective," he said.

As China's impoverished population decreases, China's role in the global economy is expanding in many ways. "China's demand for imports from overseas boosts trade and global demand. China's enormous supply of low-cost and high-quality infrastructure is vital for developing countries aiming to expand their own infrastructure," he said. "All of these bring important benefits for the world economy."

Sachs said he would like to see the Belt and Road Initiative "really expanded" in coming years as a way to create more investment in green and digital infrastructure in developing countries "as a basis for their continued economic development".

Xinhua