CPC leadership is fundamental guarantee for poverty alleviation

Poverty relief assistants Liu Ying (1st L) and He Changle (2nd L), as well as village officers, help carry melons planted by villagers in Dongqin Village, Congjiang County of southwest China's Guizhou Province, Nov. 11, 2020. [Xinhua/Yang Wenbin]

BEIJING -- The leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is the fundamental guarantee for China's poverty relief achievements, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in Beijing on Thursday.

British economist Jim O'Neill, chairman of the London-based think tank Chatham House, said recently that China's achievements in poverty alleviation might be "due to a combination" of factors, including clear prioritization and commitment from the Chinese government and industrialization.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a daily news briefing that O'Neill's remarks reflect the fact that the CPC puts people front and center, and that the leadership of the CPC is the fundamental guarantee for the Chinese people to shake off poverty.

He said that since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the CPC Central Committee has given top priority to the battle against poverty in its governance, and has organized the world's biggest and toughest poverty-relief battle in human history.

"China has achieved a major victory in poverty relief that has impressed the world, with almost 100 million people lifted out of poverty," said Wang.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China has selected over 500,000 cadres as the first secretaries of CPC village committees, and has sent more than 3 million cadres to impoverished villages to battle poverty on the frontline.

That fully demonstrates the CPC's commitment to and sacrifices for the rejuvenation of the country, he said. "It is also a powerful counterattack against some foreign politicians who try to sow discord between the CPC and the Chinese people."