23 March 2005, Beijing, China - China's commitment to establishing a Xiao Kang Society mirrors, in many respects, the principles of the Millennium Declaration and its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted by world leaders at a United Nations summit in 2000, where they pledged to build a better world through a global partnership for development, according to a senior UN development official.

“Given the strong convergence between the two, there is a unique opportunity for China to integrate the Xiao Kang and the MDGs,” said today Khalid Malik, UN Resident Coordinator and UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in China, referring to a new programme between the United Nations and the Chinese government, entitled "Supporting the all-round Xiao Kang Society (2005-2009)."

Launched today in Beijing, this programme seeks to support the Government’s long-term development vision of building an all-round Xiao Kang Society by 2020, provide policy recommendations to the formulation of the 11th 5-year Plan as well as long-term development strategies for China.

Malik noted that the launch of the programme came after the successful completion of the third Session of the 10th National People’s Congress, during which Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated using a scientific, human-centered development concept to build a harmonious socialist society, and a higher-level of Xiao Kang society.

“Using human-centered development approaches to strengthen the Xiao Kang concept and developing tools to measure its progress is essential for China in the transitional period,” said Malik.

“To support China in addressing the issue of development disparities, it is expected that the programme’s impact goes beyond the 11th 5-year Plan and generates long-term effects for China on its way to building the Xiao Kang Society,” he added.

Wang Yue, Director General of the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE) on behalf of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), said that the objective of the programme was to establish a scientific indicator system on development in China, which will significantly contribute to the achievement of the MDGs and the Xiao Kang vision in China.

“This is one of the most important programmes in the next five years of the partnership between the Chinese Government and the United Nations,” he said.

Zhu Zhixin, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the implementing agency of the programme, noted that after being launched in 2002, the concept of Xiao Kang has taken center stage in planning the modernization of the Chinese society.

He said that the Chinese concept of Xiao Kang bears many similarities to the MDGs. “China has been actively participating in the efforts to achieve the MDGs and endeavoring to integrate the MDGs with the vision of building all-round Xiao Kang Society in China.”

Zhu said that to achieve the Xiao Kang Society, the Chinese Government is facing various challenges, such as the imbalances between urban and rural areas, and between social and economic development. To address these development challenges, China needs to learn from the international best practices and experience.

“Therefore, it is of prime interest of the Government to partner with UNDP to integrate the global goals and indicators of the MDGs into Xiao Kang policy through this initiative,” he added.

With a total fund of USD 10 million, the programme is designed to help China develop broader definition, concepts, goals and indicators of development, strengthen the monitoring and assessment functions, refine the instruments to measure development outcomes, enhance leadership capacities, as well as advocate a wide sense of ownership and participation in establishing Xiao Kang society.

The programme consists of four inter-linked parts: the integration of Xiao Kang concepts and goals with MDGs, assessment of Xiao Kang progress in five pilot provinces, leadership training at the central level, as well as board-based Xiao Kang advocacy.

Carried out in broad partnership at both central and local levels, it is hoped that the programme will also serve as a platform for continuous policy dialogue involving the Government, the private sector, the academia, the civil society, the media, as well as the international partners on policy development for achieving the Xiao Kang vision, and support donor coordination in this area.

Also attending the launch ceremony were representatives from the Chinese government agencies, the donor community, the UN agencies, and other partners of the programme, including the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).