China makes extremely impressive progress in MDG achievement: UN official

A United Nations official said Monday that China has made remarkable progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

"China's progress to date in MDG achievement is overall extremely impressive," said Khalid Malik, UN system resident coordinator and UN Development Program resident representative in China.

While addressing the 14th World Productivity Congress (WPC),held in Shenyang, capital city of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Malik said that by international standards China's performance in achieving MDG has been excellent, "one key target, the having of the proportion of people living in extreme poverty, has already been achieved."

"The target reduction in hunger and malnutrition is nearly achieved already, and a strong start has made toward reaching key education, reproductive health and several other health and sanitation MDGs," added the UN official.

China is a signatory to the UN's Millennium Declaration of 2000.

Malik said that China's participation in the MDG program is contributing significantly to achievement of global targets, particularly with MDG1, where China's record in reducing income poverty has been astoundingly strong.

"Nearly half of the global progress in reducing income poverty between 1990 and 2001 occurred in China alone -- of the 24.4 percent drop in the share of the developing world's population living in poverty, 10.6 percent occurred in China," he said.

However, the UN official said that there are "new challenges" to be faced in China, "particularly in the areas of gender equality, environment sustainability and reserving the spread the HIV/AIDS."

"These challenges have direct implications for productivity, and overcoming them should be part of a broad and extended national agenda to enhance productivity," he added.

With the theme of Pursuing Scientific and Sustainable Growth in Productivity and Performance, the ongoing 14th WPC, from 8-10, has brought together some 1,000 participants from all sectors of industry, commerce and public services all over the world.

This is the second time China has ever held the WPC. China successfully hosted the 12th WPC in 2001.

Source: Xinhua