President Xi Jinping of China Pledges $2 Billion to Fight Poverty
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Version 0 of 1. President Xi Jinping told the United Nations on Saturday that China would pledge $2 billion as an initial investment for development assistance to the poorest countries. Addressing a United Nations summit meeting on development, Mr. Xi said China would increase its funds to $12 billion over the next 15 years to help the United Nations reach a goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030. In making the pledge, China was “putting justice before interests,” he said. “To solve various global challenges, including the recent refugee crisis in Europe, the fundamental solutions lie in seeking peace and realizing development,” Mr. Xi said. The pledge comes as China has faced increasing criticism for not taking sufficient responsibility for reducing poverty. Western countries have argued that China, as the world’s second largest economy, can afford to do more. “It reflects an acceptance of China’s increasing global responsibility,” said Douglas H. Paal, vice president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In the past, China has met about 40 percent of its pledged contributions. And the current stress on foreign exchange and growth could mean its fulfillment rate was even less, Mr. Paal said. Mr. Xi said that China would grant relief of debts owed by the least developed countries. He did not give a figure for the debt. China has been criticized for using its development aid, particularly in Africa, for its own strategic objectives and economic needs, such as expanding access to oil and gas. Critics have pointed out that while China spends considerable money on infrastructure in poor African countries, it does not release data on its annual foreign aid. At a briefing for reporters Saturday night, Zhang Jun, director general for economic affairs at China’s foreign ministry, said the pledge was “more political than practical.” “China is willing to do as much as possible to help developing countries, but you can’t expect that with limited funds there can be an answer to all questions,” Mr. Zhang said. In his speech, Mr. Xi noted that China had lifted 439 million of its own people out of poverty and had made “remarkable” progress in education and women’s welfare. It was not clear if he was suggesting that China’s own experience in poverty reduction would be used in the United Nations project over the next 15 years. In an effort to show that China had been generous in the past, Mr. Xi said that 600,000 Chinese aid workers had been deployed to 166 countries. The $2 billion pledged by Mr. Xi gave a considerable boost to the United Nations’ new Global Goals for Sustainable Development announced on Friday, but there were few details about how the funds from China or other member countries would be spent. China had not decided whether the $2 billion would be distributed as cash or in loans, Mr. Zhang said. Mr. Xi said China would also start 600 foreign assistance projects to reduce poverty by 2030. Chinese officials said those would be funded separately. In keeping with this new tack of taking a greater interest in poverty reduction outside its own borders, China announced during the summit meeting with President Obama on Friday that it would cooperate with the United States Agency for International Development on the United Nations poverty reduction project. But neither China nor the United States said how much money, if any, would be devoted to that cooperation. |