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  Wolfowitz: China no threat to the world  By Xu Binglan (China Daily)  Updated: 2005-10-17 16:00  On a two-week tour of Asia and Europe, the World Bank president flew directly 
to Lanzhou from Tokyo on October 12, before covering about 375 miles by road as 
he toured the impoverished province.
  The number of people in Gansu living 
in absolute poverty dropped from 60 per cent of its total population in 1980 to 
7 per cent in 2000.
  However, the per capita annual income of its 20 
million farmers still stood at less than US$200, compared to the national 
average of over US$1,100.
  As a result of poverty, levels of education and 
healthcare remain low.
  In the villages that Wolfowitz visited, slogans 
are painted on sand brick walls such as "Parents that don't send their children 
to school are irresponsible," a reflection of the low levels of school 
enrolment, even for primary education.
  A World Bank project has helped 
Dongchuan Village, close to provincial capital Lanzhou, carry out a water 
diversion project and a farmer relocation project. However, villagers say 
that girls dropping out of primary school for financial reasons is a major 
problem.
  Annual per capita income is US$120 in Dongxiang County. In the 
county's Heping Village, farmers would have been living with widespread 
tuberculosis if the government and the World Bank had not initiated a special 
programme to provide free check-ups and treatment.
  When people in the 
West think of China, they think of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, skyscrapers, 
trade surpluses and economic growth, Wolfowitz said.
  When talking about 
China's achievements, World Bank officials focus on poverty reduction -- China 
has raised 400 million people out of poverty over the past quarter of a 
century.
  But that is only part of the China story, Wolfowitz 
said.
  By the international benchmark of one US dollar per day for living 
expenses, China still has nearly 100 million living in absolute poverty, World 
Bank economists say.
  What Wolfowitz saw in Gansu served as a vivid 
"demonstration of how much more work there is to be done," he said.
  The 
World Bank will continue to work with the Chinese Government in poverty 
alleviation, he said.
  [Read Interview Transcripts] 
 
   
  
  
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