An aerial drone photo taken on Sept. 24, 2020 shows a relocation site for poverty alleviation in Gonggar County, Shannan City of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)

Some 300 diplomats, policymakers and development experts from 34 countries and international organizations, including the United Nations, gathered in southwest China on Saturday to discuss how the poverty reduction expertise of the world's largest developing country can provide insights for global poverty governance.

The ongoing 2025 International Forum on Poverty Governance and Global Development, co-hosted by the Yunnan provincial government, the China Public Relations Association and the China International Communications Group (CICG), centers on the theme: "Together Promote Rural Revitalization and Common Development."

The 2025 forum comes approximately four years after China, with a population of over 1.4 billion people, declared that it had eliminated absolute poverty.

Speaking at the forum, Guo Weimin, head of the China Public Relations Association and former vice minister of the State Council Information Office, stressed that poverty governance is "a global challenge and a shared mission for humanity."

He told the opening ceremony that since its inception in 2021, the annual forum has focused on issues such as poverty governance, ecological conservation and sustainable development, establishing itself as a vital platform for international cooperation on poverty reduction and the sharing of development experience.

Also on Saturday, CICG President Du Zhanyuan emphasized that modernization cannot be achieved without rural revitalization, and that the balanced development of urban and rural areas is a key component of Chinese modernization, which calls for unwavering commitment and sustained efforts.

Rural development should value the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature, as well as the empowerment of science and technology, he added.

The site of the two-day forum is located in a large river valley in Yunnan's Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, which is itself living proof of China's success in poverty alleviation.

The mountainous province of Yunnan was central to China's uphill fight against poverty, with Nujiang being one of the toughest fronts. Sheer cliffs and raging rivers once isolated Nujiang, leading its poverty incidence rate to peak at 56 percent -- among the highest rates in the nation. By 2020, China's targeted poverty alleviation strategy had lifted some 270,000 people out of extreme poverty in the prefecture, which is home to a variety of ethnic groups.

Hong Weizhi, secretary of the Nujiang prefectural committee of the Communist Party of China, told the forum that Nujiang has been prioritizing job creation and supporting entrepreneurship to ensure stable livelihoods for all of its 535,000 residents.

Irina Bokova, former director-general of UNESCO, said that with poverty being a major problem that human society has faced and continues to face in many parts of the world, China's economic and social development experience has brought progress to many areas of a globalized and interconnected world.

Quoting Nelson Mandela when he said that overcoming poverty is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life, Bokova said that China's story is proof that developing countries can eliminate poverty when endurance, perseverance and a striving spirit are present, underscoring the need to share knowledge to accelerate progress toward the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Chairman of the Belarus-China Friendship Society and former Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Kalinin said that the problem of multidimensional poverty, in which almost one-seventh of the world's population lives, has become an integral part of the systemic civilizational crisis.

China's great feat of eliminating extreme poverty is a pronounced example for all humanity, and a great contribution to humanity's common mission of eradicating multidimensional poverty, he said.

Liu Yongfu, former director of China's State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, stressed that China is proactively exploring long-term mechanisms to guard against the recurrence of poverty as it advances its comprehensive rural revitalization.

Martin Charles, ambassador of Dominica to China, expressed the belief that governments, which play an important role in the creation of clear, sustainable public policies, should promote alliances between the public and private sectors to achieve common welfare and encourage investment in strategic sectors that guarantee the effective implementation of rural revitalization measures.

Sudheendra Kulkarni, the founder of India's Forum for a New South Asia, said that one of the compelling features of China's poverty reduction and rural revitalization work is that it is guided by a holistic vision, integrated planning and effective implementation.

China's poverty eradication has focused on the modernization of agriculture, making optimal use of advances in science and technology; on the non-farming economy, which includes rural tourism; and on the protection of the exceptional features of rural cultural traditions, he added.

With rural revitalization as a focal point, the ongoing forum has also showcased local case studies from Yunnan, bridging policy insights and grassroots implementation.

Thematic sessions are also being held during the forum to delve into key dimensions of sustainable rural development, including integrated agriculture-culture-tourism development, green transformation, digital empowerment and the global sharing of China's poverty alleviation experience.