On July 16th, Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei and World Bank Group President Jim Young Kim signed a groundbreaking agreement. The new deal between China and the World Bank establishes a $50 million trust fund to end poverty and promote development across the globe.

As the World Bank’s third-largest shareholder, this new agreement strengthens the growing partnership between China and the Bank. President Kim commented on the partnership, stating, “I look forward to a continued strong, cooperative, and productive relationship, which will benefit developing countries around the world.”

The trust fund is expected to start later this year. In addition to enhancing cooperation between China and the World Bank, the fund aims to leverage the resources that developing countries need to escape poverty. It will finance investment projects, operations, knowledge development and human-resource cooperation.

Finance Minister Lou commented on the new fund, stating, “The establishment of this trust fund signals that our partnership with existing multilateral development banks is growing, even as we support new ones.” Secretary General Jin echoed Lou’s enthusiasm, pledging his full confidence in the new fund, and in the existing partnership.

China has remained the largest contributor to world growth since the global financial crisis. In fact, over the last few years, approximately 30 percent of global growth has come from China alone. China is a global leader in development. Over the past 25 years, the country has lifted more than 600 million people out of poverty.

That number is greater than the number of people lifted out of poverty by the rest of the world combined over the same time period. There is no doubt that China is doing all that it can to lead the worldwide anti-poverty charge.

In fact, during Kim’s two-day visit to the county, he also met with Secretary General Jib Liqun of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Multilateral Interim Secretariat to discuss further cooperation between the two institutions. Both leaders agreed to expand their cooperation and invest in future development projects.

Last month, the prospective founding members of the AIIB signed the Articles of Agreement, making way for the bank to be operational by the end of 2015. By increasing funding for infrastructure, they are tackling the poverty problem at its deepest roots.

According to Secretary General Jin, with the emerging AIIB too, the World Bank “has been very generous in sharing its expertise, lessons of experience and global good practice knowledge with the Secretariat.” He went on to express full confidence in the powerful partnership’s ability to improve the lives of countless impoverished citizens.

Cooperative partnerships such as these represent the quickest, most efficient means of tackling poverty and promoting development worldwide. As one of the world’s strongest powers with the second largest economy, China is unquestionably the perfect contender to combat poverty.

America sits proudly beside China in a position of global power. As possessors of the power needed to put an end to poverty, we maintain a global responsibility to co-lead the anti-poverty fight. There is no better way to achieve this than to collaborate our resources through such cooperative partnerships.

– Sarah Bernard

Sources: The Financial, The World Bank, Sputnik News
Photo: Sputnik News