World Bank chief hails China's fight against poverty

Argentine President Mauricio Macri (R) shakes hands with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, after a joint press conference at the Presidential Country House, in Olivos city, 15km from Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Aug 17, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

BUENOS AIRES - World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on Thursday praised China's anti-poverty measures which have successfully lifted "hundreds of millions" of people out of poverty.

Beijing "responded to the new realities" of the times to tailor effective policies, said Kim, who arrived in Buenos Aires for a two-day visit to meet with Argentine President Mauricio Macri over his development and economic reform agenda.

"Since 1990, nearly 1.1 billion people around the world have come out of poverty. Hundreds of millions of them come from China, a country that responded to the new realities of the market and promoted growth," said Kim at a joint press conference after meeting with Macri at the presidential residence outside the capital.

Over the past 30 years, China has implemented reforms and opened up its economy, and lifted in the process 700 million people out of poverty, a figure that represents more than 70 percent of the global reduction in poverty, according to an annual report on poverty reduction of China in 2016 published by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the State Council.

China's poverty rate was at 10.2 percent in 2012 and dropped to 4.5 percent by 2016. Since 2013, 55.64 million Chinese have climbed out of poverty, the report said.

The Chinese authority aims to eradicate poverty in the countryside by 2020.

During their meeting, Kim and Macri discussed the upcoming Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), to be hosted by Buenos Aires in December, and also the presidency of G20 in 2018, which Argentina will take over on Dec 1.

"Argentina is moving in a promising direction. It has launched difficult reforms to stabilize the economy, opened Argentina to the world and increased transparency, among other things," Kim said.

"These reforms are building the foundations that will help greater investment and job creation in a sustainable way," said Kim, forecasting the South American country "will grow 2.7 percent this year, significant progress, especially considering last year's contraction."