Analysis: Why China’s dev’t journey is drawing global interest

When China announced in 2021 that it had eradicated absolute poverty after an eight-year campaign, the achievement attracted global attention.

For many developing countries confronting persistent poverty, the question was no longer whether China had succeeded, but what lessons its experience might offer.

The search for answers brought political leaders, scholars and media representatives from more than 50 countries to Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The region is where China’s poverty reduction journey was examined through the voices of policymakers, grassroots officials, development practitioners and villagers whose lives had been transformed.

A common message ran through their accounts: poverty reduction requires more than economic growth.

It depends on governance, long-term planning, targeted interventions, community participation and sustained investment in people.

Liu Haixing, Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, described poverty as one of the greatest challenges facing developing countries on the path to modernisation.

He said China lifted 98.99 million rural residents out of poverty, removed all 832 designated impoverished counties from the poverty list and helped 128,000 villages shake off poverty, achieving the poverty reduction target under the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development a decade ahead of schedule.

According to Liu, the achievement is rooted in what China describes as targeted poverty alleviation, identifying the specific needs of communities and households, tailoring assistance to local conditions and combining poverty reduction with industrial development and employment creation.

“Development paths must suit each country’s national conditions,” he said.

He stressed that while China’s experience could provide useful insights, every country must develop approaches that reflect its own realities.

He added that China had entered a new phase focused on rural revitalisation by strengthening agriculture, expanding rural industries and preventing a return to large-scale poverty.

Beyond the figures, however, were the experiences of people whose lives reflected the impact of those policies.

Liu Kerui, a villager from Hongde Village in Ningxia, recounted moving beyond years of hardship to building a more secure future, describing poverty alleviation as a journey that restored hope and dignity to his family.

For Ma Yanlong of Miaomiaohu Village, the transformation came through developing industries suited to local conditions.

What was once sparsely productive desert land now supports livelihoods, creating employment opportunities and improving household incomes.

Education also emerged as an important part of the development process.

Ms Wu Juan, Academic Principal of Ningxia Antong Zhitu Education Co., Ltd., said improving access to education had expanded opportunities for children from disadvantaged communities, demonstrating that lasting poverty reduction depended on investing in people as much as infrastructure.

Another speaker, Xin Baotong, Head of the Longlongshu Minning Disability Support Trade Centre, highlighted efforts to ensure that persons with disabilities were included in development programmes through skills acquisition and employment support.

His experience illustrated a broader emphasis on ensuring that vulnerable groups were not left behind.

Another defining feature of China’s approach was the role of grassroots governance.

Mr Zhou Daxing, First Secretary of the CPC Libu Village Branch in Tongxin County, said poverty reduction relied on coordinated action across village, township, county, provincial and central authorities.

He said identifying local needs, implementing projects and continuously monitoring progress required sustained cooperation rather than isolated interventions.

Regional cooperation also played a significant role.

Li Huiqin, a member of the 14th Fujian Aid Task Force to Ningxia, described how partnerships between China’s more developed eastern provinces and less-developed western regions helped attract investment, strengthen industries and expand markets for agricultural products.

He said initiatives such as e-commerce, livestreaming and business partnerships connected Ningxia’s products to consumers across China while creating jobs and encouraging enterprise development.

Guo Shaoling, Secretary of the CPC Yaomo Village Branch in Guyuan City, said the focus after eliminating absolute poverty had shifted towards rural revitalisation.

According to him, continued policy support, improved agricultural technology and expanding e-commerce enabled farmers to move beyond primary production to complete agricultural value chains while encouraging more young people to remain in or return to rural communities.

Members of the international media delegation said visiting villages, farms and industrial projects offered an opportunity to compare policy objectives with realities on the ground.

Frederick Idehai, President of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Nigeria, said visits to poverty alleviation communities, poultry farms and e-commerce centres demonstrated how development policies were implemented at the grassroots.

“We went to the poverty alleviation village. We saw it. We went to the poultry farm. We saw it. We went to the e-commerce centre. We saw it,” he said.

According to Idehai, one of the most striking observations was the close interaction between public officials and local communities.

“When your leaders are always there, relating with the people, creating that unity and that bond, things work. In China, I could see the relationship between the Party and the people reaching the grassroots level,” he said.

The experience also aligned with foreign political leaders.

Mohammed Ouzzine, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of Morocco, said China’s targeted poverty alleviation strategy demonstrated the importance of tailoring policies to local conditions, accurately identifying households in need and deploying resources efficiently.

He said the experience also underscored the importance of political commitment, effective implementation mechanisms and broad social mobilisation in tackling poverty.

Mr Ghulom Halimzoda, Chairman of the Socialist Party of Tajikistan, said the principal lesson from China’s experience was not merely the scale of resources invested but the continuity of policies, institutional coordination and a people-centred approach to development.

Zimbabwe Senate President Mabel Chinomona described Ningxia’s transformation as evidence that poverty reduction should be viewed as a comprehensive development strategy rather than a temporary welfare intervention.

“The transformation of once impoverished communities into thriving centres of economic activity stands as a testament to visionary leadership, sound policy implementation and an unwavering commitment to improving people’s lives,” she said.

She added that while China’s experience offered valuable lessons, countries would need to adapt those lessons to their own governance systems, institutions and development priorities.

Indera Sagewan, Lecturer in International Trade at the University of the West Indies and economist from Trinidad and Tobago, offered a similar perspective, cautioning against treating China’s experience as a model to be copied wholesale.

“It is not necessarily to be replicated, but to be adopted to your own circumstance,” she said.

According to Sagewan, countries should draw lessons that fit their own economic systems, governance structures and development priorities, rather than attempting to replicate another country’s model.

What emerged from Ningxia was a broader picture of development, one in which poverty reduction was linked to governance, education, industrial development, rural revitalisation and continuous policy support.

For many of those who travelled to China, the country’s experience is attracting attention not because it offers a universal blueprint, but because it demonstrates how long-term planning, accountable institutions and locally tailored solutions can work together to improve people’s lives.

As countries continue searching for pathways to inclusive development, China’s journey is increasingly being studied not as a formula to copy, but as one experience from which practical lessons can be adapted to local realities. (NAN)

Refinery

Ukraine sets Russian refinery ablaze in fresh drone attack

A man was killed and three other people, including a child, were injured in Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s Volga region of Samara, regional Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said on Sunday.

Residential buildings and an industrial facility were damaged in the attacks, Fedorishchev said on Telegram, without providing further details.

The independent Russian news outlet Astra, citing images and videos circulating on social media, reported that the industrial site was the Syzran oil refinery.

Footage showed several large fires burning at the facility.

The Russian military said Sunday morning it shot down 349 Ukrainian drones overnight, a scale of attack comparable to those seen in recent days.

Ukraine has targeted the Syzran refinery several times. Following a previous attack in late May, the plant, which has an annual processing capacity of around 8.5 million tons, was forced to suspend operations.

The refinery, owned by state-controlled oil company Rosneft, produces petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Russia is facing a fuel shortage as repeated Ukrainian strikes on its oil refining infrastructure have disrupted production.

Petrol stations have begun rationing fuel, with motorists often facing long queues to obtain supplies.

Kiev has pursued the campaign for months in an effort to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago, into negotiations.

Moscow has said that any peace agreement must include the transfer of Ukrainian territory, including areas that Russian forces have still not captured more than four years after the invasion began. (NAN)

Attack

Iran expands attacks on Gulf states after US strikes, says Strait of Hormuz closed

U.S. and Iranian forces have exchanged heavy missile and drone assaults, with Tehran targeting U.S. facilities in states across the Gulf ​on Sunday and saying it had again closed the vital Strait of Hormuz.

The renewed violence casts further doubt on the future of an interim U.S.-Iranian agreement signed last month that aimed to ‌reopen the strait and end the war after a further 60 days of negotiations.

The strikes were the latest in a cycle of attacks and counter-attacks as Iran seeks to assert control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. However, the barrage marked an escalation in pace and range.

Iran’s strikes extended to Qatar, a mediator in ceasefire talks that had not come under attack since April. The United Arab Emirates, which had not been targeted since early May, said its air defenses had engaged missiles and drones from Iran.

The U.S. military began launching ​more strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, Central Command said in a statement on the social media platform X, “to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting ​the Strait of Hormuz.”

U.S. Central Command spokesperson Tim Hawkins told CNN that U.S. aircraft shot down an Iranian cruise missile and a one-way attack drone.

In a brief phone interview ⁠with Reuters on Sunday afternoon, U.S. President Donald Trump referred to the weekend’s strikes on Iran. “We’re beating them up,” he said.

Iranian media said on Sunday there had been missile attacks and explosions around the port cities of Sirik and Bandar Abbas, ​home to military facilities on the strait, and nearby Qeshm Island.

In a statement, Iran’s foreign ministry condemned “aggressive” U.S. attacks against Iran over the weekend. The ministry also said talks between Iran and Oman on Saturday in Muscat — focused on ​arrangements for managing the strait and transit routes — were unable to reach a result because of “overt and covert” U.S. pressure on Oman.

In the past week, Trump has said he considers the ceasefire over, while leaving the door open to more talks.

Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, posted on X on Sunday: “The era of one-sided deals is OVER. We told you: keep your word or pay the price. Reality is knocking.”

The war that the U.S. and Israel launched against Iran on February 28 has destabilised the Gulf, where Iran has struck ​countries hosting U.S. bases. Iran’s effective blockade of the strait has driven energy prices higher and fuelled global inflation.

Higher prices, especially for gasoline, are politically sensitive for Trump ahead of November’s congressional elections.

Iran has sought to establish ​a permanent system for collecting fees in the strait, which carried one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war, and has warned vessels not to sail without its authorisation.

It said late on Saturday it had closed the waterway ‌after firing ⁠a warning shot that struck a vessel travelling on an unauthorised route. On Sunday, it said it had disabled a second vessel.

India said one of its nationals was missing after an attack on the container ship GFS Galaxy off the coast of Oman. Oman said 23 crew members had been rescued. Qatar advised all vessels, including leisure boats, fishing boats and jet skis, to suspend activities.

Iran’s recently created Persian Gulf Strait Authority said on Sunday that passage through the strait was not currently possible due to “recent illegal movements of the United States military forces in the region”. Permits would be issued “as soon as stability and calm are restored,” it said.

The U.S., which revoked the licence authorising the sale of Iranian crude on ​Tuesday following earlier attacks on shipping, said its forces ​were positioned to safeguard freedom of navigation despite what ⁠it described as “aggression, harassment, threats, and arbitrary declarations” from Iran.

“Iran does not control the strait. Traffic is flowing,” it said.

The U.S. Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center reiterated guidance that, despite a severe security threat, an “expanded” southern route near Oman was available for two-way traffic.

On Saturday, U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces had hit 140 Iranian military targets, and ​that more than 300 had been struck over three nights this week “to degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait.”

In response, Iran’s ​Revolutionary Guards said they had ⁠destroyed a command-and-control centre and drone hangars in U.S. ally Jordan, targeted a U.S. radar site and later rocket launcher systems in Kuwait, attacked U.S. aircraft carrier support and refuelling platforms in Oman and destroyed a jet maintenance centre and command facility in Qatar.

Qatar, which has previously said it would not act as a mediator so long as it was under attack, said three people, including a child, had been injured by falling shrapnel. It ⁠said Iran was “fully ​legally responsible” for the attack.

The UAE said it detected missile threats outside its borders, while Bahrain said it intercepted several Iranian aerial attacks, Jordan ​reported missile strikes, and Oman reported being targeted with drones. Kuwait’s army later reported damage from strikes, and said an attack on an oil drilling platform injured a worker.

Oman said it had summoned Iran’s ambassador to protest over drone attacks in two regions, and the U.S. embassy in ​Oman told its nationals in Duqm and Musandam to shelter in place.