A Joint Study on Sichuan Rural Revitalization and Poverty Alleviation in China and Latin America with Latin American Think Tank Scholars

A delegation of 16 young scholars from 11 Latin American countries, representing the region’s top think tanks, visited the SWUST and attended a seminar on “Sichuan’s Rural Revitalization and Poverty Alleviation in China and Latin America” on May 23rd. The event was graced by the presence and addresses of Ambassador José Ramón Cabañas Rodríguez, head of the delegation, Director of the Centre for International Policy Studies of Cuba and former Vice Foreign Minister of Cuba, along with Ambassador Liang Yu, Director of the Latin America Department of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhang Yechu, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Sichuan Province, as well as Huang Qi, President of SWUST. Vice President Su Weizhou presided over the opening ceremony of the seminar.

Ambassador Cabañas highlighted the significant role of Chinese universities and youth in driving national innovation and development, emphasizing that the seminar provided a valuable platform for scholars from both sides to exchange ideas, which is crucial for promoting China-Latin American cooperation.

Ambassador Liang Yu expressed his deep gratitude to the university and to the local government for their support. He pointed out that the General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed the importance of giving priority to the development of agriculture and rural areas and promoting the comprehensive revitalization of the rural areas, so as to accelerate the modernization of agriculture and rural areas and better promote Chinese-style modernization. The Chinese government has always attached great importance to the work on the Three Rural Issues (issues relating to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers) and poverty alleviation that are important challenges commonly faced by developing countries. He said Sichuan’s experience is a microcosm of lifting 800 million people out of poverty in China. China’s great achievements in poverty reduction and rural revitalization are the result of practicing the “People-centered Thinking” and continuing the “People-oriented Thoughts” that has lasted for more than 2,000 years, representing the modern expression of China’s historical and cultural genes. He hoped that Latin American think tanks and their Chinese counterparts would strengthen mutual exchanges and learning to promote cooperation between China and Latin America in the fields of agricultural revitalization and poverty reduction.

Mr. Zhang Yechu, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Sichuan Province, expressed his warm welcome to the Latin American scholars and briefly introduced the basic situation of international cooperation and exchange in Sichuan Province. He said that Sichuan Province and Latin American and Caribbean countries have carried out a series of friendly exchanges and practical cooperation in many fields, such as international friendship cities, agricultural technology, economic and trade investment, new energy and people-to-people exchanges. As the only regional and country-specific research base of the Ministry of Education in the western region, the Latin-America and the Caribbean Studies (CLACS) of SWUST has made a lot of achievements in promoting China-Latin America cooperation in the past ten years. Mr. Zhang hoped that the Chinese and Latin American scholars attending the conference would put forward more insights for further accelerating the multi-field exchanges and continuously expand the opportunities for cooperation between Sichuan and Latin America.

On behalf of the university, Huang Qi, president of SWUST, expressed his warm welcome to the guests. He introduced the general situation of SWUST and the progress of its internationalization education to the participants, with a special emphasis on the development of the CLACS and its achievements in promoting China-Latin America friendship and cooperation. He said that this seminar is a vivid practice of friendship and cooperation between China and Latin American countries, representing the shared pursuit of China-Latin America cooperation to achieve prosperity and development. President Huang also sincerely hoped that after this seminar, more developmental consensus would be achieved, making positive contributions to the jointly promoting cooperation in various fields and continuously enhancing cultural trust between the two sides.

Alejandra Mora of the University of Veracruz, Mexico, elaborated on the importance of the vision of a ‘shared future for all human societies’ with a focus on rural revitalization in Sichuan. She argued that the global community must work together to find effective and sustainable solutions in the face of global challenges such as climate change and poverty. Based on his research, Professor Lucas Gutierrez Rodríguez of the School of Life Science and Engineering/School of Agriculture presented his practical experience and reflections on forest ecology, rural development, and biotechnology. He believed that China’s experience in poverty reduction, particularly in the aspects such as effective protection of key ecosystems, plan and implementation of medium-term and long-term development, and new quality productive forces based on technological innovations, offered valuable inspiration for Latin American countries. Professor Zhai Kunzhou of the School of Marxism highlighted the sustainable efforts by the CPC in implementing the strategy of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization in the process of promoting Chinese-style modernization from a macro perspective. In his opinion, comprehending the inner logic of Chinese-style modernization would facilitate a deeper understanding of China’s rural revitalization and agricultural and rural modernization. Professor Zheng Xiangjiang from the School of Life Science and Engineering/School of Agriculture shared the basic conditions and development history of Sichuan Province in building a higher-level Tianfu Granary in the new era, as well as the strong initiatives to promote food production.

During the discussion on “Poverty Reduction and Development in China and Latin America”, Samuel Spellman of the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, pointed out that river governance and inland navigation would have a significant impact on crop cultivation, mineral resources development, shipping and shipbuilding. He also suggested that China and Latin America should expand transnational inter-provincial cooperation pattern to further achieve win-win results. Christopher Rodriguez of the Central American Institute of Administration and Management in Costa Rica, on the basis of an in-depth comparison of China's systematic poverty reduction and rural revitalization policies with the experience of Latin America, argued that the development approach adopted by Latin America has exacerbated poverty issues, and suggested that China and Latin America should establish a better cooperation in poverty reduction, so as to create a more positive impact in Latin America. Based on the experience of assessing the effectiveness of poverty reduction in more than ten provinces in China, Associate Professor Li Renfang of the CLACS believed that two poverty reduction practices in China are worthy of reference for Latin American countries: adhering to a people-centered approach and prioritizing the right to life of the poor and adhering to the priority of development and continuously enhancing the self-reliance of the poor individuals communities. Dr. Luo Zelong of CLACS shared his personal experience in poverty alleviation, showing Latin American scholars the vivid practice of universities’ participation in poverty alleviation.

Additionally, scholars also discussed topics such as China’s poverty reduction policy design, China’s digital agricultural development, collective land system, the impact of ethnic character on poverty reduction, eco-agricultural development and green economy transition.

This seminar has strengthened the communication between scholars from China and Latin American countries, playing a positive role in mutual understanding and awareness between scholars of the two regions. The conference is a concrete practice of the university responding to the Belt and Road Initiative, building a community with a shared future for mankind, and realizing modernization with Chinese characteristics. The university will continue to respond to the decision-making and deployment of the CPC Central Committee, and under the guidance of the No.1 Document of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, continue to make efforts in rural revitalization, poverty alleviation and China-Latin America cooperation, so as to contribute to the construction of a community with a shared future between China and Latin America, and the promotion of comprehensive, in-depth, long-lasting and sustainable cooperation between the two regions.

The Latin American delegation visited CLACS, where they learned about the history of the Centre, its work and achievements during their visit to the University.

Edited by Yang Shufan

Translated by Luo Li

Drafted by the Center for Latin-America and the Caribbean Studies