Diplomats, government officials and scholars from 20 countries and a myriad of international organizations gathered in subtropical Yunnan province on Sunday to discuss how China's expertise in poverty reduction is about to benefit rural areas beyond China's borders.

A senior Communist Party of China official said that the nation has set its sights on rolling out more relief programs in alliance with global partners to curb poverty and improve people's welfare across the globe.

Du Zhanyuan, president of China International Communications Group, said that the CPC sent out a message at its 20th national congress in October that the country will create more opportunities for global development through its new development mode at a time of profound changes.

Setting out on a new journey to advance socialist modernization, the Chinese government is willing to join hands with other countries to build consensus on development and seek common ground for curbing and managing poverty worldwide within the framework of the Global Development Initiative, he said.

The initiative was proposed by President Xi Jinping when delivering a speech at the general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2021.

"We should strengthen practical cooperation and carry out international poverty reduction projects with a focus on practical results," Du said.

He made the remarks at the 2023 International Forum on Poverty Governance and Global Development held in Nujiang Lisu autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province, itself a poster child of China's poverty reduction achievements. The event was held by CICG along with the provincial government of Yunnan, China Public Relations Association and Renmin University of China.

Some 190 diplomats, government officials and scholars from 20 countries and four international organizations attended the forum.

Just a few years ago, Nujiang, home to a mosaic of ethnic groups, was known for some of China's most entrenched poverty.

It escaped impoverishment after authorities rolled out programs ranging from building infrastructure and ecological conservation to tourism promotion, and increased investment in its health and educational systems.

Guo Weimin, president of China Public Relations Association and former deputy director of the State Council Information Office, said that the sea change unfolding in Nujiang in recent years is a shorthand for the country's success in reducing poverty and vitalizing rural areas.

"I hope that the participants will continue to follow the development of Chinese rural areas, take a tour in Nujiang and beyond, and experience the extraordinary changes of Chinese modernization firsthand," he said.

"I hope that they will share what they see, hear and think, and convey an objective and true image of China to the world."

Speaking virtually at the forum, former prime minister of Thailand Abhisit Vejjajiva said rural poverty is a headache for many countries, and his country is looking forward to deepening collaboration over the Belt and Road Initiative, strengthening rural infrastructure and building a community with a shared future for mankind with lasting prosperity.

Qu Sixi, a representative and country director for the World Food Programme in China, said China has been hailed by many countries for actively participating in global poverty reduction and sharing its knowhow in the field after it had ended absolute poverty domestically.

The Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies, a CICG affiliate, released a report during the event.

Titled "From Poverty Alleviation to Rural Revitalization: China's Practice and its Global Relevance", the report introduced some of the approaches adopted by the Chinese government to curb dire poverty, such as the east-west paired assistance programs, in which authorities mobilized wealthier regions in the east to assist those in inland regions to shake off poverty, as well as programs aimed at helping people relocate out of their isolated hometowns and merge into their adopted communities.

China managed to pull around 100 million rural residents out of abject poverty between 2012 and 2020, whose financial situation has been placed under constant monitoring in case of sliding back into poverty. The report said that 65 percent of those who had escaped poverty were no longer considered vulnerable to re-impoverishment.