L to R: Wu Zhong, Liu Fuhe, and Interpreter

On September 28, 2007, the China State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development (LGOPAD) held a press conference about the upcoming international conference, organized by IFPRI and LGOPAD, Taking Action for the World's Poor and Hungry People, to be held in Beijing, October 17-19. The briefing, which lasted 40 minutes, was attended by 12 Chinese journalists and one member of the China-based foreign press.

At the press briefing, the following points were stressed:

• Although considerable progress has been made in poverty reduction in certain regions of the world, especially East Asia and the Pacific, and it is likely that the poverty and hunger MDG will be achieved on a global level by the target date, millions of people will still be left behind
.
• While many developing regions of the world experienced robust economic growth in recent decades, the benefits have not adequately reached the poorest.
• Poor people are often disadvantaged because of their ethnicity, gender, disability, or because they live in remote rural areas, unconnected to roads, markets, schools and health services.
• China has been a success story in povery reduction; by the end of 2006, the number of poor people in China declined to 21.48 million from 250 million in 1978.

The briefing stressed China's commitment supporting global poverty reduction and the expectation that this conference will lead to increased collaboration between China and other countries on these issues.