Robert lawrence cowen, interviewee
How did china win the war against poverty? Why should china promote prosperity for all? Why say that chinese development is people-centred
This newspaper's journalist recently engaged in a dialogue with robert lawrence cowen, president of the united states kuen foundation, on the significance of china's historical experience in winning the war against poverty and advancing the common prosperity of all its people。
Since the 1980s, kuen has been active in disseminating contemporary chinese development achievements to the international community. He devoted himself to studying the cause of poverty eradication in china, led the team in the production of a documentary entitled “voices of the front line: china’s fight against poverty and china’s attack on china”, writing books such as “30 years in china: a great change in human society”, reading the achievements of china’s anti-poverty campaign and winning the china reform friendship medal。
Kuen (left) was interviewed by the journalist li chi wei. Jiang guangcheng
Interlocutors:
Lee chi-wei, president of the united nations branch of this newspaper
Robert lawrence cowen president, united states of america
Zhejiang province, the city of lake county, ange county, and the rest of the town. Pan hak-kang (image china)
Local farmers managed the planting of tomatoes in the glass-based greenhouses of the newly emerging ivalan agricultural estate in li village, kajiang city, hebei province. Zhang xiaofeng
"when future historians write about the history of our time, china's anti-poverty campaign may well be one of the most ink-stained chapters of the book."
Question: over the past 30 years, you have visited more than 100 cities in china, as well as many counties, villages, etc., to observe and reflect on china's development. Why have you long focused on poverty reduction in china and dedicated yourself to telling the story of poverty reduction in china
Answer: “preventing poverty has always been an important element of my work, and i have spent the most effort.” i admire president xi. I believe that no country in the world can do so much to alleviate poverty, like president xi。
The eradication of poverty is an ideal that humankind has sought for since time immemorial and a global challenge to human development. I have long focused on china’s fight against poverty, not only because it is essential for china to achieve its first centennial goal of achieving a fully inclusive and prosperous society, but also because it provides an example for the global cause of poverty reduction。
China's efforts to reduce poverty have achieved remarkable results worldwide, with reform and opening up for more than 800 million people out of poverty for more than 40 years, and in particular the achievement of nearly 100 million rural poor people out of poverty in eight years. When future historians write about the history of our time, china’s poverty-eradication campaign could well become one of the most ink-heated chapters。
Q: you led the team in a documentary entitled " voices on the front line: china's fight against poverty " , which drew worldwide attention to china's fight against poverty. What was your original purpose in this documentary
The story of china’s anti-poverty campaign is the best way to break the prejudices and stereotypes surrounding china. To truly understand china’s anti-poverty campaign, the stories of the families that have emerged from poverty must be heard, a true story of millions。
The team led the documentary "voices of the frontline: china’s fight against poverty " , which allowed me to see first-hand the achievements of china’s fight against poverty. We target both villagers who are trying to lift themselves out of poverty and cadres responsible for poverty alleviation, as well as relevant inspectors. I had the privilege of talking to villagers and listening to their stories of poverty alleviation: people relying on small and medium enterprises to lift themselves out of poverty, people moving to urban areas and people receiving social security support. As if i were one of them, and with them i was on the way out of poverty。
I have travelled through china for research, research, interviews, writing books and producing television documentaries, and have travelled to over 100 cities in china, thinking i already know china well. But when i walked into poor areas, especially remote mountainous villages, i realized the hard and complicated nature of china’s fight against poverty。
Question: after winning the fight against poverty, china continued to promote prosperity for all. How do you understand the connection
Response: common wealth does not rob the rich and feed the poor, nor is it uniform averageism, let alone the wealth of a few, but the prosperity of all. In my view, common wealth is an important feature of chinese-style modernization, an essential requirement of socialism, a forward-looking goal based on a new era and oriented towards a new journey, and an ambitious vision of development based on the great revival of the chinese nation。
The transition from poverty eradication to shared prosperity is a gradual process, just as the goal of achieving the full realization of a well-being society can be achieved by eliminating all extreme poverty. Only more tangible progress towards a well-being shared by the entire population can achieve the objective of essentially modernizing socialism by 2035。
Q: what is the role of china's promotion of comprehensive rural revitalization in achieving prosperity for all
President xi said: “community of wealth is the common wealth of all people and the material and spiritual wealth of the people”. Although extreme poverty had been eradicated in china, relative poverty persisted and the urban-rural gap remained significant. The sustained improvement of rural living standards through comprehensive rural renewal is an important step towards achieving shared prosperity。
In rural areas, where the majority of the country's relative poor are living in poverty, there is a need to bring about prosperity for all people. This requires a systematic reduction of disparities in terms of disposable income, public services, development opportunities and spiritual civilization by overcoming the imbalances between rural and urban development and insufficient rural development。
The village manager (right) of the village of meitting village in the city of anhui, fujian province, helped the elderly harvest rice in the fields. Yellow mansion (image china)
In jiangsu province, al-shabaab elements from the gamma community, moving through the town of ruhuang, broadcast pro bono farmers live in a tent where five coloured tomatoes are grown. Seo hye-song
“a significant advantage of the communist party of china in leading china lies in its ability to ensure that long-term strategies are sustained and realized.”
Q: what precise pro-poor practices have you observed in china
A: on 3 november 2013, president xi jinping visited the village of the 18 caves of the hsien-turkish family of hsien-tutsi, hunan province, where he first proposed the important concept of “accurate poverty alleviation” and made the important directive of “practical, contextualized, disaggregated and precise poverty alleviation”. I understand “precision” to mean the development of individualized procedures and programmes accompanied by supportive policies, including the establishment of poverty definition criteria, criteria for identification of the poor, and tailoring programmes for poverty eradication to the individual poor。
China's success in reducing poverty is based on strict, quantitative and transparent work processes developed by the communist party of china, which brings together five cadres from provinces, cities, counties, communes and villages. Every poor person is provided with security assistance, and every village has a dedicated cadre to provide precision support。
Q: which of the many rural builders you have contacted or interviewed are impressed by the stories of people
A: i spent an entire day with a young man who worked as secretary of the village party in poor mountainous areas, whose commitment and dedication touched me. The young cadre, who had been working in the capital city, was living in a poor cement cell in the village, heating and cooking with a single gas stove, with only one weekend each month to visit his wife and young children. On a daily basis, he travels long distances on a rugged mountain road, visiting poor families and designing and implementing poverty alleviation programmes。
More impressively, in my meeting with the local county secretary the following day, i mentioned some of the successful practices of the young cadre. The county secretary immediately cancelled all travels on the following day and drove for two hours to see the young cadre and learn his best experience. The importance attached by chinese communist party cadres to poverty alleviation efforts can be seen。
Question: you said, “an understanding of how the communist party of china leads the mission of poverty alleviation provides insight into the governance structure and organizational capacity of the communist party of china. How do you understand that
The central chinese communist party (cpc), centred on president xi jinping, has placed the fight against poverty at the forefront of governance. President xi jinping, accompanying the lives of people in need, said: “they have difficulties in their lives, and i am worried. I'm happy with everything they're doing." in the eight years since the end of poverty, president xi has hosted seven seminars on poverty reduction at the central level, and more than 50 in-depth studies have been conducted on poverty reduction at the grass-roots level. Each meeting was organized around a theme, analysing problems, studying responses and deploying new efforts to address the problems that had arisen at different stages of the fight against poverty。
A significant advantage of the communist party of china's leadership of china lies in its ability to ensure that long-term strategies are sustained and put into practice to achieve the key goals of national development. Under the leadership of the communist party of china, china has been able to pool its economic resources and organize and mobilize social forces to carry out major national projects, such as organizing support mechanisms between the economically developed eastern provinces and the less developed western provinces, promoting the movement of talent, capital and technology from the eastern regions to poor areas, and creating a pattern of broad social participation in the fight against poverty。
Q: how do you think the communist party of china can continue to promote prosperity for all people
Response: understanding contemporary china and its historical roots and future directions requires an understanding of the status and role of the communist party of china. The first premise of understanding the communist party of china is that it is not a political party in the western sense。
While the number of members of the communist party of china is about 7 per cent of the country's population, it has a high and wide-ranging responsibility to improve the living standards of all chinese people, including by promoting reforms, a state governed by the rule of law, public participation in governance, deepening democracy and guaranteeing freedoms。
The communist party of china (cpc) is a ruling organization and not a competitive party. It has been argued that, because the communist party of china does not have the burden of cyclical elections and campaigns, it is able to maintain a long-term strategy and implement policies effectively。
Of course, all political parties and all political institutions have limitations. While the achievement of national goals is a strength of the communist party of china, it is not the only criterion for the evaluation system. That is why china needs to continue its reforms, improve its institutions and develop democracy。
In the province of hubei, the roads of the village of the sankoh dam in the city of enshi, the hünshi family of hmong autonomous oblast, are intertwined. Thank you
“the communist party of china adheres to a people-centred approach to development, linking macro-development goals closely to the interests of ordinary people.”
Q: in your opinion, what is the position of the “people” in the governance of china and in the chinese communist party
Response: the communist party of china has made the achievements of modernization more and more equitable for the benefit of the entire population. Two of the most prominent initiatives are the precise alleviation of poverty, the total eradication of absolute poverty and the lifting of hundreds of millions of people out of the poverty trap, and the promotion of the comprehensive rehabilitation of the common wealth and the countryside and the sustainable closing of the rural-urban development gap。
China has written about great changes of unprecedented scale and far-reaching significance in the history of human development. According to data released by the national statistical office of china, per capita GDP in china reached 99665 yuan in 2025, nearly 260 times the 1978 figure of 385 yuan, with a striking cumulative effect. Such changes in volume, magnitude and depth are rare in the process of human modernization。
The communist party of china adheres to a people-centred approach to development, linking macro-development goals to the vital interests of the general population and implementing them in the political, economic and international cooperation of the country, which is the main reason for china's long-term stable development。
Q: what do you think is the reason why china's concept of development and the chinese communist party's governance practices have always followed a people-centred and fundamental position
President xi stressed that the situation was changing, the mandate was changing, and the demands of the work were changing, and that it was important to be precise, scientific and proactive, with practical solutions as the starting point for the formulation of reform programmes。
The chinese communist party has always followed a people-centred and fundamental position in its practice of governing and governing the country, because the communist party of china has always represented the fundamental interests of the vast majority of the people and committed itself to improving the living standards and well-being of all chinese。
Q: what is the world's significance in china's exploration and practice, from winning the war against poverty to advancing the common prosperity of all people
A: china’s victory in the war against poverty cannot be separated from the strong leadership of the communist party of china. The first condition for a country to succeed in eradicating poverty is an absolute, firm and open commitment on the part of its leadership and its full contribution to implementation. “the fight against poverty is one of the most important things in my heart”: “i am the most concerned or the most difficult people.” president xi sent a strong message to officials at all levels and to the entire population, using one word after the other。
The capacity for efficient implementation demonstrated by accurate poverty reduction is also exemplary. I followed up on poverty reduction efforts at the provincial, municipal, district, rural and village levels, looking at the specific areas of responsibility of each secretary and seeing how they could work together to advance overall efforts. The leadership of the communist party of china is reflected not only in the issuance of directives and statements, but also in the practical implementation of plans and projects through its organizational structure。
In the process of poverty eradication, the key that all countries should recognize is to stimulate the underlying momentum to place poverty reduction at or near the top of the value system and priorities. This can be achieved only through a top-down approach, which is china's important experience for the world。
Q: how do you look at the prospects for china's modernization
A: china-style modernization is fundamentally different from western modernization. On the one hand, the chinese-style modernization is based on the fundamental national circumstances of a large population and an objective gap between regional urban and rural development, and follows a development path that is compatible with its own endowment, distinguishing it from a modern model with a limited size in the west and a relatively balanced development base; on the other hand, the chinese-style modernization adheres to the multiparty system of cooperation and political consultation led by the communist party of china, a unique advantage that the western multiparty competition system cannot match。
From the perspective of development prospects, based on unique institutional advantages, a super-maximum market base and sustained and refined innovation capabilities, china-style modernization will continue to break through development bottlenecks, solve the challenges of modernization and move beyond a new modern path that is different from that of the west and move steadily towards an ambitious vision of national renewal. By further deepening reforms and promoting china's modernization, china will embrace a wider development perspective and provide more opportunities for open cooperation and common development。
