China is leading the way to reduce poverty in Asia and the
Pacific region, and contributing to other regional efforts like
reforestation and energy efficiency to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), said an international report released in
Manila on Monday.
In 1990 one person out of three in China lived in poverty, while
today the number is below one in ten, said "The Millennium
Development Goals: Progress in Asia and the Pacific 2007" (MDG
2007), a joint report by the United Nations and Asian Development
Bank (ADB).
The MDGs range from halving extreme poverty to reducing child
mortality, halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, providing universal primary
education, and providing access to clean drinking water and
sanitation facilities by the target date of 2015. In 2000 all
nations and international development institutions agreed upon a
blueprint plan.
According to MDG 2007, a landmark report issued at the halfway
point of 2015, China has already reduced its hunger and nutrition
levels below the regional average. In some Chinese cities the rate
is close to zero.
Reforestation efforts in China have also helped the Asia Pacific
region to register an increase of forests and the country has
managed to double its energy efficiency since 1990, according to
the report.
China is also well on track for some other indicators such as
promoting gender equality and empowering women, improving maternal
health and reducing child mortality.
However, China still has a lot more to do to attain the goal of
halving the proportion of rural population without access to safe
drinking water and the number of HIV infections is rising faster in
the country than the average figure of the Asia-Pacific region, the
report stated.
(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2007)