A Chinese official urged developed countries in Washington on Sunday to raise their aid to help the poorest countries overcome poverty, achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations.

"At current stage, the shortage of development financing remains the core constraint against the expected progress in MDGs," said Li Yong, vice minister of finance of China, at a meeting of the World Bank's policy-making Development Committee.

The developed countries should take concrete steps to undertake their obligations to scale up their official development assistance to reach the UN target of 0.7 percent of their gross national income, Li stressed.

Under the MDGs, people who live in poverty will be reduced in half by 2015. The goals were set at the UN summit in September 2000.

He said that the full achievement of MDGs depends heavily on the progress in the least developed countries, especially those in Africa.

"In this regard, the international community should focus on addressing the critical constraint on their economic growth, promote the development of productive sectors like infrastructure, agriculture, and industries, and help the countries usher in a benign circle of growth, poverty reduction and development," the vice minister pointed out.

To promote the economic growth of the poorest countries, Li said, it is important to stress the input into the productive sectors, especially the bottleneck areas such as infrastructure and agriculture, while improving the domestic policy and institutional environment.

The public sector should play a leading and supplementary role when the private sector is yet to be fully developed.

And balance should be kept between short-term growth and long- term development, he added. "Sustainable development should be achieved by promoting economic growth while maintaining the sustainability of environment and social development."

In addition, economic growth requires an international trading system which provides equal opportunities for all parties to benefit, said Li.

"It calls for a stable and orderly international financial and monetary system, and a global economic system which facilitates the free flow of all production factors including labor and technology," he said. The Development Committee was holding its 77th meeting here Sunday as an important part of the 2008 spring meetings of the World Bank and its sister institution -- the International Monetary Fund.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2008)