On February 25, 2021, China held a large and solemn meeting in Beijing to honor the exemplary models in the fight against poverty, in which His Excellency President Xi Jinping delivered an significant speech and declared “China has achieved a complete victory in the battle against poverty, and thanks to the joint efforts of all members of the Communist Party of China and the people of China of all nationalities in light of the arrival of the centenary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.
Fighting poverty is always an important issue for running a country and sustaining its stability in the world. The history of China is full of the nation’s combats against poverty. After China is entering the modern era, it witnessed political tension, repeated wars and miserable living due to feudal rule and the aggression of powerful Western countries, which made poverty seriously, confuse the Chinese. So that eliminating poverty became a dream that the people pursued, and made an efforts to became it true.
Since its founding, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has taken the basic goal of achieving the welfare of the people and the revival of the Chinese nation, and has led the people to engage in long and difficult struggle to create a beautiful life. The Party and the people have resisted difficulties and impediments. In the fighting of poverty, they implemented several sequences efforts.
Particularly since the 18th National Congress of the Party, the Central Committee of the Party has placed the task of eradicating poverty in the prominent place of govern and administer of the country, and has organized large-scale popular combats against poverty, meanwhile, as millions of cadres made every effort to accomplish this efforts. The mission is hard, and more than 1,800 comrades have sacrificed their lives in the fight against poverty.
The Chinese standard for poverty elimination is consistent with its level of economic and social development in general, and the poverty standard set by the international clause in 2015 is 1.9 USD per person per day, and it is above poverty line ratios set by the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
Achieving a comprehensive victory in the battle against poverty symbolizes a big and solid step China has taken on the road to creating a happy life and achieving common prosperity, but the eradication of poverty does not mean the completion of our work. Rather, it is the first square for creating a new life with a new struggle, and we still have an arduous task and a long road ahead of us to address problems of unbalanced development, narrowing the development gap between cities and rural areas, and achieving comprehensive development for human and common prosperity for all.
Maintaining success is more difficult than success itself. China is now undergoing a shift from eliminating absolute poverty to achieving in rural area. In the coming stage, we will work on the path of the socialist countryside with Chinese characteristics according to the new circumstances and requirements. We will make greater efforts to enhance the people’s sense of gain, happiness and security in pursuit of the second centenary goal with courage.
China does not do without the world in its development, and as the prosperity of the world needs China. China will pursue the strategy of opening-up and win-win without faltering the world’s stability. Meanwhile, China pursues energy for world’s development and at the same time, the world is benefiting the world better with China’s development.
China and Iraq are good friends and valued partners. We are keen to continue strengthening mutual political trust between the two sides, participating in the process of actively rebuilding Iraq. Additionally, we are confirming in deepening cooperation of the two countries’ in the context of building “belt and road initiatives”, and contributing to economic and social development in Iraq. We are also preparing to make joint efforts with the international community, including Iraq, in promoting the global cause of poverty alleviation and making greater contributions to building a community of a shared future for mankind that would be far from poverty.
Zhang Tau
Chinese ambassador to Iraq
