BEIJING, September 29 (INP): A spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang Wenbin said that the on-going COVID-19 may drive as many as 70 to 100 million people into extreme poverty.  

International cooperation on poverty eradication is an important part of global anti-epidemic efforts and a priority in the international human rights cause, he said here at a regular news briefing.  

Last week, Wang Wenbin said, at the high-level meetings on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the UN, President Xi Jinping announced a series of major approaches to support the UN and promote world peace and development.  

By co-hosting this high-level video conference on poverty eradication and South-South cooperation with UN agencies, China is taking a concrete approach to implement President Xi's announced measures and further advance poverty alleviation and South-South cooperation. 

“At this high-level conference, China noted that the international community must take a "development first" approach, place greater importance on the 2030 Agenda, and make comprehensive, balanced and robust efforts toward the sustainable development goals and targets.  

We must make poverty eradication front and center, and unlock the door toward no poverty using the master key of development.  

The international community needs to empower the collective rise of developing countries through South-South cooperation, and further increase the representation and say of developing countries in international affairs.  

All sides highly commended China's position and proposals at the conference, which they believe demonstrate once again China's commitment to multilateralism and longstanding support for the UN and South-South cooperation. 

Human beings have become a community with a shared future. The final victory against the virus won't come until it is defeated in the last country, and the final victory of poverty alleviation won't be ours unless poverty is eradicated in the last nation. China will always stand side by side with other developing countries.  

We will earnestly implement the important measures announced by President Xi, and further contribute to global anti-epidemic cooperation, poverty eradication and development.” 

When attention was drawn to a fact sheet published by the US Department of State of China's Environmental Abuses, the spokesperson said, "This is another anti-China farce played by the US out of political purposes. The US so-called "fact sheet" is nothing but a list of sheer lies. 

Lies are so easily exposed by truth. China's achievements in addressing climate change are widely recognized.  

By the end of 2019, China's CO2 emissions per unit of the GDP were cut by 48.1 percent compared with that in 2005, and the share of non-fossil fuel reached 15.3 percent, fulfilling our 2020 climate action targets ahead of schedule.  

The new afforestation in China accounted for 25 percent of the global total, and over 50 percent of the world's new energy vehicles are in China. At the general debate of the 75th UNGA session on September 22, President Xi Jinping announced that China will enhance the nationally determined contribution targets, and strive for the peaking of CO2 emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060.  

China has phased out over 280,000 tonnes of ozone-depleting substance (ODS), accounting for more than half of the total by developing countries. China's ambient air quality standards are implemented in 74 cities, and I believe you have all witnessed how blue the skies are.  

China has eliminated artisanal and small-scale gold mining, and we will eliminate the manufacture, import and export of mercury-added products listed in the Minamata Convention on Mercury by the end of this year. China is one of the countries that have the most stringent legislation and law enforcement on the protection of wildlife. We contributed greatly to global forest resources, sustainable forest products and trade.  

By the end of 2020, China will basically achieve the goal of zero import of solid waste. Nearly 99 percent of China's urban household waste goes through innocuous disposal. Our coastal cities all have garbage classification and marine sanitation mechanisms.” 

INP/JAVED