Forum shares experience in poverty relief

Some 300 diplomats, government officials and experts from 34 countries and regions as well as international organizations gathered in Southwest China over the weekend to exchange experiences on poverty reduction and seek ways for modernization and sustainable development.

"Poverty is a major problem that human society has been and is still facing in many parts of the world," Irina Bokova, former director-general of UNESCO, said on Saturday at the opening ceremony of the 2025 International Forum on Poverty Governance and Global Development. The two-day forum was held in Lushui, a city in the Nu-jiang Lisu autonomous prefecture of Yunnan province.

"Since the beginning of the reforms in China, a little more than four decades ago, China has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, accounting for over 70 percent of global poverty reduction accomplishments," Bokova said, noting that the country declared a "complete victory" in eradicating absolute poverty in 2021.

"If China can make it, other developing countries can make it too. This is what China's battle against poverty says to the world," she said.

Participants at the forum, which was themed "Together Promote Rural Revitalization and Common Development", engaged in discussions and sharing of experience during four thematic subforums.

Guo Weimin, head of the China Public Relations Association, said at the opening ceremony that since its inception in 2021, the annual forum has developed into a vital platform for international cooperation on poverty reduction and the sharing of development experience.

"Nujiang has achieved a decisive victory in poverty alleviation, completing the leap from deep poverty to overall poverty alleviation, and from closed backwardness to open development," Guo said.

By displaying the prefecture's changes in poverty alleviation and rural vitalization, introducing advanced poverty reduction concepts and successful practices of the international community, the forum can effectively promote local development as well as promote the benefits of poverty reduction to more people around the world, he added.

Wang Xiangang, deputy secretary of the leading Party members group of the Yunnan provincial government, said that in recent years, Yunnan has solved the problem of absolute poverty, and 9.33 million rural residents have been lifted out of poverty.

In 2024, the province's economic aggregate reached 3.15 trillion yuan ($434.2 billion), and the per capita disposable income of residents increased by 5.3 percent.

"Yunnan's poverty reduction practice is a microcosm of the country's great historical process of poverty alleviation, providing a Chinese example for global poverty reduction governance and modernization development," said Wang.

Sudheendra Kulkarni, founder of India's Forum for a New South Asia, said he found that China's poverty reduction and rural vitalization work is guided by a holistic vision, integrated planning and effective implementation.

People can see some very positive and effective practices from China's experience that have a lot of relevance and inspiration for many other developing countries, including India, he said.