BIZCHINA / Top Biz News
UK offers aid to improve life in poorest areas
(Mark South)
Updated: 2006-05-19 09:07
An aid package worth nearly US$200m over the next five years has been
launched, with the aim of solving the problems of some of China's poorest
and most vulnerable people.
Unveiled yesterday by the UK Department for International Development
(DFID) in Beijing, the Country Assistance Plan (CAP) for China will see
China receive around 105 million pounds in aid from the British
Government between now and 2011.
Western China will be the main beneficiary, with support for programmes
tackling HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, solving water and sanitation problems
and providing basic education in areas including Gansu, Sichuan, Henan,
Yunnan and Xinjiang.
"When I visited China late last year I saw the achievements of Chinese
people in increasing access to quality basic education, controlling
tuberculosis, generating employment and responding to climate change, and
I know the government of China is deeply concerned about these issues.
I'm pleased that DFID can help find solutions," said Gareth Thomas, the
UK's under-secretary of state for international development, in a speech
recorded specially for the event.
According to head of DFID in China Adrian Davis, the CAP for China was
devised with particular emphasis on the Millennium Development Goals, an
internationally agreed list of targets for reducing poverty by 2015.
"We looked at the goals and decided which of the targets were the most
pressing for China and which we were most able to help achieve," he said.
"The figures of money involved may sound large, but it actually
represents less than 0.1 per cent of China's GDP China doesn't need this
in financial terms, but what we are able to offer is specific skills and
approaches where we have knowledge and experience that China perhaps
doesn't have."
In the field of education for example, the money will be spent on
projects such as the construction of new schools, teacher training and
improvement of education management and administration.
Thanking Britain for its contribution to tackling poverty in China,
China's Ministry of Commerce spokesman Yin Zonghua said the government
was committed to eradicating poverty and associated problems.
"The projects we have running such as the AIDS prevention programmes in
Yunnan and Sichuan and the basic education project in Gansu are an
example of how successful we can be if we work together hand in hand," he
said.
"We are determined to work together with all countries including Britain
to solve these problems."
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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