"Poverty is born out of political, economic, social and historical factors. The problem gets even worse in an irrational international political and economic order amid unbalanced development," said Liu Jian, minister in charge of poverty alleviation in the Chinese State Council. He was speaking at a Monday afternoon meeting of world leaders convened to explore ways to eradicate hunger and poverty.

Liu said hunger and poverty have become a global problem menacing world peace and human development.

He proposed three methods of dealing with these crucial issues: First is the fostering of a favorable international environment.

In terms of economics, fair, reasonable, open and transparent international rules must be put in place for world trade, investment and finance so that developing countries can have their fair share of the dividend.

"In the political field, the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and universally recognized norms of international law must be observed in maintaining world peace and stability," Liu said.

Second, he stated, developing countries need to work out poverty reduction strategies tailored to their own situations and developed through self-reliance and hard work.

"Developed nations, on the other hand, are duty-bound to render more assistance to their developing counterparts, making good their commitments on financial aid, technology transfer, debt relief and market access in particular."

International organizations must play a greater role in the global campaign against poverty, he noted, pressing for action in the wake of international conferences and exploring new ways to support global efforts to reduce poverty.

Liu's third point was the mobilization of resources for the elimination of poverty, giving government, business and society space to put their strengths to work and complement one another in their efforts.

Heads of state from nearly 60 countries were among those who attended the half-day meeting, jointly organized by Brazil, France, Chile and Spain and held under the auspices of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2004)