What's B​ehind China's Successful Poverty Reduction

Over the past 30-plus years, China has succeeded in lifting more than 700 million people out of poverty thanks to its policies and their orderly implementation. What lies behind China’s success?

Hon. Mbelwa Kairuki, Ambassador of Tanzania to China, attributes China’s success to the Communist Party of China and its successful leadership.“The leadership of His Excellency President Xi Jinping has put more focus on people. You see in the media every now and then, President Xi Jinping visiting the provinces where there are programs of poverty alleviation on the grassroots, and all other leaders also do the same, being on the ground to experience what are the issues. This achievement is something to learn from, especially for African countries, which are also on the same path to fight against poverty,”he said, and added that people make mistakes by sitting just in the office and design policies of poverty alleviation which don’t work.

 H.E. Mbelwa Kairuki, Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania to China

In Kairuki’s opinion, China not only generously shares its successful experience with developing countries, but also willingly helps African countries to get rid of poverty.

“This [cooperation with China] is a very big opportunity that could uplift many people out of poverty. If we work with China to acquire new technology, Tanzania will definitely benefit lucratively,”said Kairuki at the Youth Forum of 2017 Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum and the Second China-Africa Youth Exchange Program on Poverty Reduction and Development.“With further development of the South-South Cooperation, China’s advanced agricultural technologies have been used in Africa and help achieve zero hunger in Africa. China-Tanzania joint program of scaling up maize production and boosting farmers’income is a wonderful example.”

Nearly 400 million people in Africa are still living in poverty, and it is an arduous task for Africa to reduce poverty and achieve development.“We need to bring more [Tanzanian] people to China for training and also welcome Chinese experts to Tanzania [for transfer of skills]. In addition we need to establish cooperation between research institutions,”Kairuki suggested.“Tanzania has always been enthusiastic to the Belt and Road Initiative and is willing to further cooperation with China, so as to promote connectivity and sustainable development,”he said during an interview with China.org.cn.

When talking about young people engaged in poverty reduction, Kairuki believes that the youth is an important force for the development. The young people are lucky to have the access to politics, which quickens the courses and provides many opportunities to address poverty. He encourages young people from Africa to learn from those from China and proactively participate in poverty eradication, especially using the technology and social media.