In a bid to help alleviate the problems of some of China's
poorest and most vulnerable people, an aid package of almost US$200
million over the next five years has been rubber stamped by the UK
government.
Announced yesterday in Beijing by the UK Department for
International Development (DFID), the Country Assistance Plan
(CAP) for China will result in approximately 105 million pounds in
aid coming from the UK between now and 2011.
Western China will be the main beneficiary with support being
given to programs tackling HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, solving water
and sanitation problems and providing basic education in areas
including Gansu, Sichuan, Henan, Yunnan and Xinjiang.
"When I visited late last year, I saw the achievements of
Chinese people in increasing access to quality basic education,
controlling tuberculosis, generating employment and responding to
climate change and I know the government of China is deeply
concerned about these issues," said Gareth Thomas, the UK's
under-secretary of state for international development. "I'm
pleased the DFID can help find solutions." His speech had been
especially recorded for the event.
According to head of DFID in China Adrian Davis, the CAP for
China was devised with particular emphasis on the Millennium
Development Goals which is an internationally agreed list of
targets for reducing poverty by 2015.
"We looked at the goals and decided which of the targets were
the most pressing for China and those we were most able to help
achieve," he said.
"The amount of money involved may sound large but it actually
represents less than 0.1 percent of China's GDP," he added. "China
doesn't need this in financial terms but what we are able to offer
is specific skills and approaches where we have knowledge and
experience that China perhaps doesn't have."
In education for example, the funding will be spent on
projects such as the construction of new schools, teacher training
and improvement of education management and administration.
Thanking Britain for its contribution to tackling poverty,
China's Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yin Zonghua said the
government was committed to eradicating poverty and the associated
problems.
"The projects we have already running such as the AIDS
prevention programs in Yunnan and Sichuan and the basic education
project in Gansu are examples of how successful we can be if we
work together," he said. "We are determined to work together with
all countries including Britain to solve these problems."
(China Daily May 19, 2006)