Experiences from China's poverty reduction worth learning: Lao expert

China has made impressive achievement in its fight against poverty, so Laos and other countries may learn from China's poverty reduction strategies and experiences, a Lao expert said.

Poverty seriously affects the quality of people's lives and undermines their basic right to live.

"Poverty reduction policy directly benefits poor people in a country. China has achieved this amid its rapid pace of growth," Director of the Confucius Institute at the National University of Laos, Yonvilay Xayyalerd, told Xinhua in an interview.

Yonvilay also said China has achieved significant progress in poverty reduction.

China will achieve the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development poverty alleviation goal 10 years ahead of schedule, which is of great significance to both China and the world, as no country has ever lifted so many people out of poverty in such a short period of time.

Such an achievement has had and will have a huge impact on the world. It not only benefits its own people, but also contributes to global efforts to eradicate poverty for the mankind.

China has lifted more than 700 million people out of poverty over the past several decades, accounting for more than 70 percent of global poverty reduction.

"China's success story provides the world with an effective way to fight poverty and improve people's livelihoods through strong leadership and unified efforts," said Yonvilay.

She added that the China's socialist system played a crucial role in poverty reduction. The Communist Party of China has made poverty reduction a major goal of China's socio-economic development.

"Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), poverty alleviation becomes a strategic task for the country," she said.

"The Chinese government has always attached great importance to poverty issues, and actively explored measures to reduce poverty," Yonvilay added.

The socialist system is also important for poverty reduction in Laos. The system has many policy tools to help achieve this goal.

"The advantages of socialism related to social equality include a focus on reducing wealth disparities, unemployment and inflation," Yonvilay said.

She added that China's development model is a valuable reference for Laos because the two countries have similarities in their political systems and development paths.

"China's poverty reduction achievement will encourage and promote Laos-China cooperation by deepening and expanding an already enduring relationship," Yonvilay told Xinhua.

Bilateral cooperation between China and Laos will be promoted to achieve mutually beneficial results, enhance experiential exchanges on governance, and deepen cooperation in trade and investment, the Lao scholar said.