BRI assistance projects helping in poverty fight

Development cooperation and foreign aid 'mutually beneficial', official says

China has arranged over 2,000 assistance projects in more than 120 Belt and Road Initiative participating countries over the past decade, said a senior Chinese official on Tuesday, who vowed to continue developing BRI cooperation.

Luo Zhaohui, head of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, told a news briefing that Beijing has set up more than 80 economic and trade cooperation zones, mobilized nearly $1 trillion in investment, offered training to more than 100,000 people in various fields and helped lift 40 million people out of poverty.

He said the project and funding libraries of the Global Development Initiative have been running smoothly, and more than 200 small-yet-smart projects have been implemented.

Those effective and beneficial projects, including "juncao" (mushrooms and grass) technology, hybrid rice, TV satellites for villages and the brightness action plan, have been implemented in Africa, South Pacific Island countries and Asia, and have improved livelihoods of local people, Luo said.

The agency focused on expanding multilateral cooperation with more than 20 international organizations including the United Nations Development Programme in areas like poverty reduction, food security and public health, he said. Over 130 projects were implemented in more than 60 countries, benefiting more than 30 million people.

"The more China develops, the greater international responsibilities it shoulders, meanwhile it faces higher expectations from developing countries," Luo said.

He stressed that China's international development cooperation and foreign aid are mutual assistance among friends, which is "both altruistic and mutually beneficial".

"We have reaped the deep friendship of the vast number of developing countries and their peoples," he said.

Humanitarian assistance is another highlight of China's foreign aid, according to Luo. Over the past 10 years, China has provided over 1,000 batches of emergency assistance to over 70 countries.

In response to the recent Palestine-Israel conflict, China has provided $1 million of emergency humanitarian assistance in cash respectively to the Palestinian government and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

The country will also provide 15 million yuan ($2.05 million) of emergency humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip through Egypt, in order to help ease the humanitarian situation, said Zhong Haidong, deputy head of the CIDCA.

Since the beginning of this year, China has provided emergency humanitarian assistance to Turkiye, Syria, Libya, Morocco, Afghanistan and other countries hit by earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters.

The assistance has effectively alleviated the humanitarian crisis in those countries, and supported the resettlement of those affected, the resumption of production and local reconstruction, Zhong said.

China's emergency humanitarian assistance not only demonstrates the country's responsibility as a major country, but also injects stability and positive energy into today's world fraught with uncertainties, he said.