700m people lifted out of poverty in over 30 years: white paper

BEIJING - China has lifted 700 million people out of poverty through more than 30 years of reform and opening-up, accounting for more than 70 percent of the global reduction in poverty, said a white paper issued on Thursday.

The white paper, titled "The Right to Development: China's Philosophy, Practice and Contribution," said that the average life expectancy in the nation had grown from 35 years in 1949 to 76.34 years in 2015, ranking high among the developing countries.

The level of education has also soared, it said. In 1949, more than 80 percent of the national population was illiterate, and the enrollment rate of school-age children was only 20 percent.

In 2015, net enrollment rate of school-age children at the primary school stage was 99.88 percent and that at the senior high school stage was 87 percent. China's higher education has approached the level of medium-developed countries, the white paper added.

China's Human Development Index (HDI) in 2014 ranked 90th among 188 countries, already in the high human development group, it said, citing the "China National Human Development Report 2016" released by the United Nations.

The white paper said that the rights to subsistence and development are the primary, basic human rights.

It also said that the right to development must be enjoyed and shared by all peoples.