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MDGs in China

As the largest developing country, China sees achievement of overall economic and social development and improvement of the quality of people’s lives as its top priority. China has its own sets of sustainable development goals, represented by the national vision of establishing “Xiao Kang,” an all-round, harmonious society, by 2020. There is a rare similarity between the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Xiaokang, as both envision a “people’s agenda”, and focus on the kind of development that makes a visible, measurable difference in the lives of people.

Generally speaking, China has made enormous progress towards the achievement of its MDGs. Since 1990, poverty, especially absolute poverty in rural areas, has been greatly reduced. China has now achieved the target of halving the number of poor people from the 1990 figure of 85 million. Current national poverty reduction efforts target both absolute and relative populations. Some of the MDG targets such as primary education have already been achieved 13 years ahead of schedule. The mortality rate of children under five dropped from 61 per 1,000 births in 1991 to 25 in 2004. The maternal mortality ratio has dropped from 89 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 51.3 in 2003. The Government of China supports international development cooperation as a means of narrowing the gap between North and South. The Government supports maintaining and improving the multilateral trade system to create a favourable trade environment for developing countries.

While China is on track nationally for most of the MDGs, inequality has increased and there is a need to work towards balanced regional economic growth and to realize sustainable development with equity. National figures mask large and growing development gaps between the relatively rich eastern coastal zone and poor central and western regions. Similarly, gender gaps have been developing recently, with women falling behind men in some respects. The Government has an ambitious plan in place to deal with the development challenge of the western region with a view to reducing the current development gap, and the All-China Women’s Federation is also working to address gender gaps.

China has recently stepped up its efforts to raise public awareness and to improve treatment and care, and support people living with HIV/AIDS. While political commitment to address HIV/AIDS has improved in recent years at the national level in China, it remains largely inadequate at the provincial and local levels. Greater efforts will be required for China to be on track for halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

China’s large and growing population, the increased demand for various products and large-scale, inappropriate, land use practices have a negative impact on the quality of the scarce productive land and other natural resources. China’s already stressed environment is experiencing additional stress caused by the rapid industrialization, urbanization and the significant increase in individual consumption. The initiation of a scientific outlook on development will strongly push forward China’s sustainable development.

STATUS OF MDGs IN CHINA

MDG 1: China has reduced the number of people living in poverty from 85 million in 1990 to 26.1 million by end of 2004, thereby achieving the target of halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty.

MDG 2: China has raised the net primary school enrolment rate from 97.8% in 1990 to 98.7% in 2003. The gross enrolment rate for junior high school has been raised from 66.7% in 1990 to 90% in 2000.

MDG 3: the girl/boy ratio was 88 in primary education and 89 in secondary education in 2003, with disparities persisting in different regions and provinces. Women hold 20.3 % of the seats in the National People’s Congress in 2006.

MDG4: During the 1990s, reported infant mortality rate dropped from 50?to 30?while mortality rate of children under-five dropped from 61?in 1991 to 25?in 2004.

MDG 5: Maternal mortality ratio has dropped from 89 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 51.3 per 100,000 live births in 2003 but these national figures mask important disparities between eastern developed provinces and western poorer provinces of China.

MDG 6: If the epidemic continues to expand, the rate is slowing. In late 2007, China reported that the number of estimated HIV cases has risen to 700,000. The cumulative total of people confirmed living with HIV was 223,501, including 62,838 AIDS cases and 22,205 recorded deaths. Women now account for an estimated 30 per cent all HIV and AIDS cases.

MDG 7: Land covered by forest has increased from 16.55% in 1998 to 21.2% in 2005. By the end of 2004, 88.8% of the Chinese population had access to safe drinking water, an increase of 85% since 1990.

MDG 8: Trade between China and Africa has grown from USD 2 billion in 1999 to more than USD 30 billion in 2004. China has signed debt relief agreements with 41 countries in Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania. Between 1998 and 2005, the number of internet users in China has risen from 2.1 million to 100 million.