Olinda (Pernambuco), March 19, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The experiences of other countries in the war on hunger and poverty were presented at the II National Conference on Food and Nutritional Security. Yesterday (18), representatives of the Chinese government demonstrated the results of the National Poverty Reduction and Development Plan.

The project, implanted in 1987, diminished the number of people living in poverty from the 250 million registered in 1978 to 85.1 million in 2003. At the end of the decade of the '70's, the Chinese government classified 30.7% of the rural population as living in conditions of extreme poverty in villages in the interior of the country, where the problem was greatest.

"Despite regional differences, they all had in common the use of antiquated methods and a low level of production that didn't satisfy the needs of the population," revealed the representative of the Chinese State Council for the Reduction of Poverty and Promotion of Development, Gao Hong Bin.

According to Hong Bin, the situation began to change after the start of agrarian reform, which had as its main guidelines responsibility for the family and raising the prices of agricultural products. "There was big upsurge in the interest of rural workers, and the rural economy improved, with the increase in income," he continued.

With the foundations launched, the Chinese government decided to include a massive poverty reduction program in the country's economic and social development plan. To this end it established goals and timetables to be fulfilled, with a focus on an increase in the income of the population, investments in infrastructure, and preservation of the environment. "The intention was to meet the needs of the poor population as quickly as possible," he said.

Hong Bin also recalled that, for the model of the war on poverty to work, it was necessary to define economic development as the central pole and, from this point, orient the poor population to adjust to the structure of the market economy.

"The government sent capital, technical, and political support to the poor zones, so that they could take advantage of local resources, stimulating and improving working conditions," he affirmed.

Translator: David Silberstein