Today's national commendation conference in Beijing marks an important milestone of China's great endeavor in eradicating absolute poverty. About 100 million people, or over 10 million a year – the size of a midsized country's entire population – have been lifted out of extreme poverty since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012 elevated poverty elimination to a priority of national governance.

In his speech today, President Xi used the phrase "human miracle" to describe what has been achieved so far. Indeed, he said that the entire Chinese history has been a history of our people's fight against poverty. Today we can proudly declare that there will be no single person left behind, who has difficulty in making a decent living or having to worry about basic food and basic shelter.

Poverty has been a perennial problem haunting mankind. Even in very rich countries today, such as the United States, which has a GDP per capita six times of China, there are still signs of poverty. Those impoverished can be visibly present in fact, no so far away from the bustling city centers. You can just go to downtown Santa Monica, California, what I call the capital of the homeless in the U.S. (this is actually a compliment for local residents' open arms to the homeless), or go to the beautiful beaches there, for an idea of the extent of the homeless problem in the United States. Here in China, we see far fewer homeless people roaming on the streets. Read the story>>