It has inspired us with a new hope that poverty is not ordained in man’s destiny and that it can be uprooted by dispassionate, concerted and sustainable efforts,” Moin ul Haque, Pakistani ambassador to China, said while addressing the BRI Beautiful Village Forum held in Longnan, Gansu province, according to Gwadar Pro.

He believed that rural development is facing a series of issues such as massive urbanization, inequality and environmental degradation imperiling prospects of future growth which led to low productivity, poor rural infrastructure, digital exclusion and meagre access to financial markets.

These factors disempower and discourage rural youths and trigger waves upon waves of migration to big cities, thus further complicating the governance task.

To solve those problems, he mentioned the importance of digital agriculture, technology and tourism.

Haque also highly spoke of China’s achievements in revitalizing the countryside. “China’s peaceful rise and its economic achievements are indebted to a remarkable feat of development and prosperity with no precedent in the annals of history.

In particular, bringing out 800 million people from the web of poverty is a success story and an enduring service to humanity,” he said.

“In this journey China’s main focus has been to upgrade and develop its rural areas. Along with the deepening of the rural reform, the poverty alleviation and development in rural China have witnessed its shift from a relief-oriented to a development-oriented strategy,” Haque added.

The per capita disposable income of rural residents in China rose from 8,296 yuan in 2013 to 16,021 yuan in 2019, and the income gap between urban and rural residents has been narrowing year by year.

Meanwhile, by 2020, China has accelerated the formation of rural ecological civilization system, achieved the phased targets for pollution prevention and control, and generally improved the quality of the ecological environment.

Nearly 100 guests from more than 20 countries participated in the forum through a combination of online and offline approaches.