Over 300 diplomats, policymakers and development experts from 34 countries and international organizations, including the United Nations, gathered in southwest China on Saturday to discuss how China's poverty reduction expertise can provide insights for global poverty governance.
The 2025 International Forum on Poverty Governance and Global Development, co-hosted by the Yunnan provincial government, the China Public Relations Association and the China International Communications Group (CICG), centers on the theme: "Together Promote Rural Revitalization and Common Development."
The 2025 forum comes approximately four years after China, with a population of over 1.4 billion people, declared that it had eliminated absolute poverty.
Speaking at the forum, Guo Weimin, head of the China Public Relations Association and former deputy head of the State Council Information Office, stressed that poverty governance is a global challenge and a shared mission for humanity.
"Local officials and residents shared their experiences in poverty governance at the forum, while attendees from countries like India and Ecuador also shared theirs. This exchange allows us to share our experiences with the Global South while simultaneously enhancing our own development. Today's forum serves as a valuable opportunity for such exchanges," said Guo.
Global attendees believe that the forum provides a valuable platform for exchanging knowledge and insights, not only on poverty governance but also on a wide range of other topics.
"We are in Europe, the type of poverty there is a very different one. We shall learn from you, in new green energy that goes forward, and you can learn from us, now is the time for integration of human efforts," said Sashko Nasev, North Macedonian Ambassador to China.
"This new dimension of cooperation, south-south, by itself is a strength. The strength that can drive the whole community and the whole world. And you see globalization, nobody can be left behind," said Saleh Chahaimi Abakar, Chad's Ambassador to China.
The mountainous province of Yunnan was central to China's uphill fight against poverty, with Nujiang being one of the toughest fronts. Sheer cliffs and raging rivers once isolated Nujiang, leading its poverty incidence rate to peak at 56 percent -- among the highest rates in the nation.
By 2020, China's targeted poverty alleviation strategy had lifted some 270,000 people out of extreme poverty in the prefecture, which is home to a variety of ethnic groups.
Insights from China's poverty reduction shared at int'l forum in Yunnan
