China
China achieves goal of halving extreme poverty ahead of schedule
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Source: CCTV.com | 09-30-2007 09:39
Special Report: 17th CPC National Congress |
The government says it has achieved some of its Millennium Development Goals ahead of schedule. A spokesperson for the State Council Poverty Relief Office made the remarks on Friday.
The Millennium Development Goals were proposed by world leaders at the UN World Summit in 2000. One of the main goals is to halve extreme poverty by 2015. The spokesman said China's rural poor dropped from 250 million in 1978 to 21.5 million in 2006, making China the first to realize the goal.
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Meanwhile, the net enrollment rate for primary schools had risen to over 99 percent in 2005. And 9-year compulsory education has covered 98 percent of the Chinese population.
However, the spokesman stressed China's development is not balanced. And huge challenges remain to further reduce poverty in China.
Editor:Zhang Ning
