On 31 August 2021, the First CELAC-China Forum on Poverty Reduction and Development, which was hosted by the National Rural Revitalization Administration of P. R. China (NRRA) and organized by the International Poverty Reduction Center in China, was successfully convened. With “CELAC-China Dialogue on Poverty Reduction and Development: Policies and Practices” as the theme, the Forum aims at facilitating the exchanges and sharing of poverty reduction experience among China, Latin American and the Caribbean countries in the context of Covid-19 pandemic. The Forum brought together more than 15 participants, including representatives from related government departments of China, Mexico and other 60 members of the CELAC, representatives from academic and business communities and from the media. Mr. Xu Jianmin, Director-General of the Department of General Affairs of NRRA, Mr. Chen Luning, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Efraín Guadarrama, National Coordinator of Mexico to CELAC Delia Rivera Castro, Director of International Relations of the Secretariat of Welfare of Mexico addressed the opening ceremony. Dr. Tan Weiping, Deputy Director-General of IPRCC delivered the forum closing remarks. Ms. Li Xin, Deputy Director-General of IPRCC moderated the opening ceremony and a plenary session.

As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the world, it is of great significance to further the exchanges and cooperation of poverty reduction and development and share the experience of poverty reduction. Consensus has been reached among the participants, that the cause of global poverty reduction requires sufficient knowledge and experience sharing among all parties, and that communication and experience sharing are essential for the consolidation of what has been achieved and for the continuous progress that are to be attained in poverty reduction. The participants also agreed that China and Latin American and Caribbean countries will strengthen experience sharing in poverty reduction and development, and summarize the effective policies and actions in China and the CELAC countries for the exchanges of best practices. At the same time, all parties will make full use of the CELAC-China Forum on Poverty Reduction and Development, a new platform for communication, to deepen mutual understanding and mutual trust, so as to lay a solid foundation for further poverty reduction knowledge sharing and concrete cooperation in the future. All parties are determined to make efforts to mitigate the negative effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has made on poverty reduction and development, and join hands to build a China-Latin America and the Caribbean community with a shared future.