Box 17 East Asia Poverty Reduction Technical Assistance Projects

In November 2014, China put forward the Cooperation Initiative on Poverty Reduction in East Asia, directed to poverty reduction in rural communities of East Asian countries and cooperative pilot projects. Since July 2017, China has carried out the program known as East Asia Poverty Reduction Demonstration Cooperation Technical Assistance Projects in six rural communities of Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. It has built infrastructure for these communities including drinking water facilities, bridges, roads, and power facilities, and public service facilities such as village activity centers, health clinics and schools. It has built or upgraded houses, toilets and environmental protection facilities for poor households, thus improving the working and living conditions of the local communities and the local environment. China has organized villagers to raise beef cattle and poultry, plant maize and vegetables, use superior varieties of rice and peanuts and modern planting methods, and develop handicraft industries including weaving and bamboo weaving, rural tourism, courtyard economy, migrant work, and technical training. These efforts have increased villagers’ incomes via multiple channels and increased the self-development capacity of villagers and communities. The model and its success have been highly praised by ministers of ASEAN countries and representatives of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and other international agencies, who have described it as a benchmark for cooperation in poverty reduction.