By Li Xiaoyang

Ren Qianji， a single mother of three from Hezuo City in Gansu Province， used to support her family with the unstable income she earned doing odd jobs such as cleaning. Without the means to earn a livable wage， Ren and her children lived in poverty. Their living conditions began to improve， however， after she found work at a casein-production facility run by a dairy company in March 2019.

Casein， one type of protein found in dairy products， is an important nutritional supplement and raw chemical material that is mainly derived from fresh cows milk. However， in Gansu and vast regions on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in northwest China， it is made on an industrial scale from a fermented yak milk product known as qula. Established in 1994， Gansu Hualing Dairy Co. Ltd.， where Ren works， has grown to become the largest producer of casein in China， accounting for 72 percent of total output and more than 75 percent of its exports. After receiving training from the company， Ren has mastered the necessary skills to extract high yields of high-quality casein from qula and she currently earns 4，200 yuan （$651） per month.

Ren is just one of many benefiting from the poverty alleviation activities conducted in Gansus Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture， where she lives and works. Gannans success story received great attention at the Global Rural Development Forum in Beijing on October 19.

The examples from Gansu are only a small part of Chinas nationwide campaign to eliminate absolute poverty in recent years. According to a white paper released by the State Council Information Office in April， by the end of 2020， Chinas remaining nearly 100 million impoverished rural residents had moved out of absolute poverty. Meanwhile， all 832 counties and 128，000 villages on the national list of poverty had been delisted. The country therefore achieved the first target of the UNs 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development， a full decade ahead of schedule.

Chinas achievements in poverty alleviation and its progress in agriculture make it well qualified to share its experience with other developing countries， according to Carlos Watson， the UN Food and Agriculture Organization （FAO） representative to China.

During the International Seminar on Global Poverty Reduction Partnerships， which was part of the forum， Watson told participants that the incidence of global poverty climbed from 8.4 percent in 2019 to over 9 percent in 2020 after the emergence and spread of COVID-19. He also underlined the need for global cooperation to eliminate poverty and famine.