Work Report on the 5th Anniversary of the Establishment of IPRCC

XU Hui, Director-General, IPRCC December 16, 2010

Hon. Director General FAN Xiaojian, Chairman LIU Jian, and Chairman DUAN Yingbi, Hon. Ms. Renata Lok-Dessallien, Distinguished leaders and guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Good Morning!

First of all, on behalf of IPRCC, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to you for taking your valuable time to attend this event commemorating the 5th anniversary of the establishment of IPRCC. Under the care and attention of leadership of CPC Central Committee and the State Council, the direct leadership of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development (LGOP) and the support of the Board of Trustees (BoT) member organizations, IPRCC, relying on China’s proven experience in poverty reduction and development, has given full play to the role of the platform for study and exchange on international poverty reduction as well as the channel for South-South Cooperation, vigorously contributing to the poverty reduction across the world. Next, on behalf of IPRCC, I’d like to give you briefings on the achievements accomplished by IPRCC during the past five years.

I. The Establishment of IPRCC in Comply with the Requirement of International Poverty Reduction

Since the reform and opening up, China has gained remarkable achievements in poverty reduction while enjoying fast and stable economic growth. Shanghai Global Conference on Scaling up Poverty Reduction 2004 has demonstrated China’s proven experience in poverty reduction, which enlightens many developing countries and countries in economic transition for their poverty reduction endeavor. Upon this Conference, LGOP, Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), and UNDP, in comply with the requirement of international poverty reduction, signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of IPRCC. The above three parties also signed the Project Protocol on the Establishment of IPRCC on May 16, 2005. With the care of central leadership, IPRCC was established in 2005. The World Bank clearly put forward in the National Strategic Partners (2006-2010) that “giving full support to IPRCC” is its commitment.

As a public organ directly under LGOP as well as an institution for research, cooperation and exchange on international poverty reduction, IPRCC practices director-general accountability system under the leadership of the BoT. The present BoT members cover LGOP, MOFCOM, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC), Ministry of Finance (MOF), UNDP, the World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), UK Department for International Development (DFID) and Chinese Association for International Understanding (CAIU). Present BoT Chairman Mr. LIU Jian is a State Council counselor and former Director General of LGOP.

II. Significant Development in Various Work Achieved by IPRCC after Unremitting Effort

With the leadership and support of the BoT, IPRCC has witnessed rapid and sustainable development in the past five years. As the direct leader, LGOP has given its full support for the development of IPRCC. Chairman LIU Jian, Director General FAN Xiaojian and the Office leaders frequently attended various activities held by IPRCC to deliver important speeches. Many times they listened to work reports and offered instruction and advice for the development strategy and orientation of IPRCC.

After more than five years of effort, IPRCC has basically completed the construction of infrastructure and business system. With the purpose of “Contributing to the Eradication of Global Poverty”, the goal of “Setting up a Brand for International Poverty Reduction Training, Innovating the Mechanism for International Poverty Reduction Exchanges, Establishing a Platform for International Poverty Reduction Research and Exploring a New Model for International Poverty Reduction Cooperation”, and the key areas of “Conducting Research on Poverty Reduction, Sharing the Experience in Development, Promoting International Exchanges, and Advancing South-South Cooperation”, IPRCC has fulfilled all its tasks in an effective, efficient and orderly manner, which generated positive impact both home and abroad and won the appraisal from government departments, international organizations, development institutions, entities of scientific research and civil societies. Specifically, the achievements include the following three aspects:

(I) A basically solid foundation for development. After two and a half years endeavor, the comprehensive building complex of IPRCC, with the build-up area totaling 23,100 square meters, has been completed and put into use in August 2008. The matched hard ware facilities for research, training, exchange, collaboration and information service on poverty reduction have also basically been put in place. In comply with the features and development requirements of international poverty reduction institution, the BoT, consisting of 15 representatives from 6 ministries of the State Council, and 4 international organizations, has been founded. The Board of Advisors, whose member covers Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and President of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, Justin Yifu LIN, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of World Bank, Amartya Sen, the sole recipient of 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics Sciences, and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University, and SHA Zukang, Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, has also been founded. The Committee of Expert, whose members include over 20 prestigious domestic and international experts and scholars, such as Sarah Cook, Director of UN Research Institute for Social Development, Sasha bina Algiers, Director of Poverty and Human Development Center, Oxford University, LI Xiaoyun, Professor of China Agriculture University, and LIU Minquan, Professor of Peking University, has also been founded. The team has also been strengthened and optimized through the enrollment of talents and excellent graduates from institutions of higher learning. IPRCC is staffed by 34 full-time employees, of whom 65% have doctor or master degree, and 30% have working experience abroad or in international organizations, and quite a number of foreign senior technical advisors, consulting experts, visiting scholars, UN volunteers, and foreign overseas students. Thereby a team for poverty reduction and development featured by high quality, strong capability and hardship-bearing, is taking shape.

(II) Smooth development of various work. IPRCC has been concentrating on five aspects in research, training, exchange, cooperation and information service in an orderly and effective manner. First of all, a series of achievements have been obtained in poverty reduction and development. Over 30 works in English or Chinese language focusing on three core research fields, namely the summary of China’s experience in poverty reduction and development, frontier theories and issues concerning domestic and international research on poverty reduction, and the promotion of international development aid, have been edited and published, such as The Development of Poverty Alleviation in China, International Poverty Reduction Theories and Frontier Issues, Development and Poverty Alleviation in China and Africa: a Multi-perspective Comparison. Dozens of research papers have been published on domestic and international journals, including Social Policies and Society of Cambridge University, Development and Surpass, China’s Rural Economy and Issues in Agricultural Economy of World Bank Institute. Over 50 domestic periodicals, including Working Paper (English and Chinese version), International Poverty Reduction Briefing and Research Report have been edited. The 1.4-million-character Almanac of Poverty Reduction in China 2010, the first of its kind, has also been compiled and published.

Meanwhile, centering on its research area, IPRCC has, together with the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), set up three study groups, such as China-DAC Study Group and South-South Cooperation Study Group, thus initially formed a research team with clear division of labor and prominence given to the key points; and secondly, it has basically established the international poverty reduction training system. It has already run 28 poverty reduction training programs for 720 trainees from 91 different countries (out of them, 328 trainees are from 42 African countries). Besides, jointly with China Agricultural University, Tsinghua University and Beijing Normal University, it has organized education for the Master’s Degree and Doctor’s Degree tailoring to those trainees from the developing countries. Thirdly, mechanism for organizing large-scale international conferences, such as Poverty Reduction and Development Forum and China-ASEAN Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction, has taken shape. Apart from that, we have organized Experience-Sharing Program on Development between China and Africa, Africa-China Poverty Reduction and Development Conference, Celebrity Forum and High-Level Dialogue totaling more than 30 times over the five-year period and involving 5,000 persons number (half of them are overseas) laid a solid foundation for international high-end authoritative exchange platform. Moreover, we have received the visiting teams from dozens of countries totaling over a hundred guests, and organized and dispatched over 40 delegations totaling nearly 200 persons overseas, thus having effectively promoted information and knowledge sharing of international poverty reduction. Fourthly, poverty reduction cooperation has been further expanded. IPRCC has successively signed cooperation agreements with the relevant departments of Mali, Benin, Tanzania and Colombia and carried out the various forms of cooperation, such as personnel exchanges, cooperative research, capacity-building and pilot demonstration. Together with the World Bank, it has organized thematic research, training and exchange workshops tailoring to Tanzanian agricultural development and poverty reduction to support Tanzanian NGOs in building the micro credit center, and to set up poverty reduction learning and cooperative center with Tanzanian government. Fifthly, IPRCC has initially formed China’s information service capacity of poverty reduction experience-sharing and achievements-sharing through multiple approaches, such as website, poverty reduction database, online services, and telecommunication network video conferences.

(III) Broad attention from the international community. The delegation of IPRCC has been given interview by the prime ministers from Peru, Tanzania, Bangladesh and Ethiopia. Tanzanian Prime Minister expressed, in his letter to IPRCC, the hope to further the collaboration in the field of poverty reduction. IPRCC was highly commented by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and UNDP Administrator Helen Clark on the occasion of Africa-China Poverty Reduction and Development Conference co-sponsored by UNDP, Ethiopian government and IPRCC in Ethiopia. The officials of IPRCC have, upon invitation, made keynote speeches over a hundred times, at different symposiums related with international poverty reduction and development. The Center has established a closed cooperative partnership with over 30 international organizations, such as, the World Bank, UNDP, OECD-DAC, and over 40 educational institutions and research institutions home and aboard. Besides, it has established the network with medium and senior trainees including 720 officials from 91 countries. In this year, there were over more than 50 interviews and publicities on IPRCC organized activities by all kinds of media. The daily click on its Chinese and English website was over a thousand on Internet; over 70 thousand news and reports about the Center can be found on the Internet.

Through the unremitting efforts over the past five years, it should be pointed out that IPRCC has already laid a solid foundation for future development, opened up a wide prospect, expanded its domain and made a series of achievements. All these achievements are attributable mainly to the care and support of the BoT and its member organizations, to the help of the relevant departments, units, international organizations and institutions, to the correct leadership of LGOP and hard work of the entire staff members. I’d like, availing this opportunity, to show my sincere respect and extend my heartfelt thanks to you all.

III. Persisting in Opening up and Blazing New Trails and Further Engaging in Exchanges and Cooperation in International Poverty Reduction

From now on, the Center shall, under the correct leadership of LGOP and BoT, and with the great support by BoT member organizations and the relevant sectors, earnestly put it into effect the spirit of the 5th Plenary Session of the 17th Party Congress, keep forging forward, open up and blaze up a new trials to carry forward the overall development of all the undertakings of the Center, with the guidance of Scientific Outlook on Development, by centering on rendering service to the state foreign policy and foreign aid policy; among what we shall do above, we have to do well in particularly the followings:

(I) To play a greater role in South-South Cooperation on poverty reduction and development. At present, the efforts of international community in poverty elimination are challenged by price hike of energy and food, global financial crisis and climate change. Therefore, to accelerate the process of MDGs, alleviation and elimination of poverty are still the pressing tasks facing many developing countries and the international community. IPRCC will fully play the role of platform for South-South Cooperation on poverty reduction and development, and strengthen the international exchanges and cooperation, and make joint efforts with the international community to push ahead the cause of global poverty reduction.

(II) To render services to the promotion of developing countries’ cause of poverty reduction. To meet the needs of the developing countries in their pursuance of poverty reduction strategy, policy and capacity-building, we should explore the poverty reduction strategy and policy suitable to the developing countries in helping them build up their self-development capacity, by joining them in analyzing the strategy of poverty reduction and policy requirement, and by combining China’s experience in poverty reduction and development. Let China’s experience in poverty reduction well serve the world poverty reduction undertakings.

(III) To further learn and take international experience of poverty reduction as reference. It is imperative to support the domestic demand of poverty reduction and development, to learn and take the international experience of poverty reduction as reference and to promote the sustainable development of China’s undertakings of poverty reduction.

(IV) To further beef up capacity-building. It is imperative to strengthen research, complete training system, innovate exchange mechanism, promote cooperation, upgrade information servicing capacity and provide technical assistance to those policy-makers, theoreticians and practitioners of global poverty reduction and development.

Here, I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to member organizations of the BoT, to the relevant departments of the Chinese government, to the related international organizations and agencies and to the people from all walks of life for their attention and great support given to our Center. We shall continue our various undertakings, give full play to the impact and convincing case of the achievements and experience of poverty reduction with Chinese characteristics, to build the Center into a window of introducing China’s experience of poverty reduction, a platform for international poverty reduction exchanges, cooperation and information, a servicing carrier for our country to carry out strategy of opening up in order to make a greater contribution to the world cause of poverty reduction.

Thank you all for your attendance!