Fabric artist Duan Yinkai (right) speaks to foreign guests who attended a meeting in Beijing on China’s poverty alleviation efforts on Thursday. [Photo/China Daily]

Foreign governmental and private representatives lauded China’s progress in poverty reduction as the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee hosted an event in Beijing showing how the country has done it.

The event, using the example of the CPC Yunnan provincial committee since 2012, attracted about 400 diplomats, foreign politicians and representatives of international organizations on Thursday.

“China’s tremendous success in lifting the majority of the underprivileged people out of poverty in over a little more than 30 years is a feat that is unparalleled and truly inspiring,” said Mark van den Boogaard, senior policy adviser for the United Nations Development Programme.

Van den Boogaard, who has recently returned from a research trip to Yunnan, said the country’s goal to pull all people out of poverty by 2020 is “ambitious” but “realistic”.

“From what we have seen in the north of Yunnan, under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese authorities are clearly on the right track.” Van den Boogaard cited the “duel approach” of targeted poverty reduction and intervention on one hand, and the nation’s idea of leaving no one behind on the other.

Lennart Nilsson, counselor for agricultural affairs with the Swedish embassy, said the figures for China’s poverty relief are impressive.

“Yunnan province has a fantastic environment. It is also important for the authorities to preserve the ethnic culture and protect the environment during the poverty reduction process,” he said.

Song Tao, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said at the event that the CPC is willing to share its experience in poverty reduction with the international community and help its neighbors and developing countries to explore their own ways to eradicate poverty.

“Facts have shown that the fundamental strategies by General Secretary Xi Jinping on targeted poverty alleviation are the golden key for China to realize its poverty eradication targets,” he said.

China lifted 55.6 million people out of poverty between 2013 and 2016.

However, more than 40 million still live in poverty, which means that in the coming four years, China would have to pull an average of 10 million people each year out of poverty to reach its target of eradicating poverty by 2020, according to the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

Chen Hao, secretary of the CPC Yunnan provincial committee, said provincial authorities have prioritized the preservation of the traditional culture of ethnic groups and the protection of the ecology and environment while reducing poverty. Yunnan’s environmental efforts are crucial since it is the source of a number of important national and international rivers, he said.

The province has managed to reduce its impoverished population from 8 million in 2012 to 3.6 million in 2016.

Oysters wreak havoc on Denmark’s seashore. [Photo/Weibo.com]

Danish people would never expect that the oyster crisis confronting their country may turn into a food-lovers’ bonanza in China. The European country’s dilemma may be the last thing Chinese people would ever understand as they see the abundance of seafood as a treat, rather than a problem.

The Danish Embassy published a story on Monday evening on its official Sina Weibo account, China’s twitter-like social network, about the problems for their country caused by an invasion of the exotic oysters. Chinese internet users enthusiastically responded with much discussion about ways to address the issue on Weibo, then WeChat, another popular social media network.

The embassy makes a small joke in the post to invite Chinese people to eat oysters in Denmark which triggered heated debate. Apparently, when it comes to eating, Chinese people are very serious and they already started to make plans for their oyster journey.

The most popular comment came from someone suggesting oyster visas should be issued “with 10 years’ unlimited round trips and one-month-long stay and I can eat up them all in five years” received over 10,000 likes. There are people even recommending visa-free and oyster immigration policies in China.

The oysters, known as Pacific oysters, are a new species in Denmark and have caused huge damage to the seashore’s ecological environment. Their proliferation is unstoppable since they have no natural enemies there. People have to get across them in shoes before swimming. What’s worse, their occupation leads to the endangerment of the Limfjord, a Danish local oyster.

Scientists and fishermen made numerous complaints to the nation’s conservation authority but the thorny issue remains unsolved. They also encouraged local people to bring them to their dining tables and few were motivated.

The Danish Embassy is very grateful for Chinese people’s innovative advice such as building oyster sauce factories and organizing oyster-dining journeys. It also said as long as China permits, they’d love to export oysters to China.