TASHKENT, June 5 (Xinhua) -- China's experience in reducing poverty could inspire Uzbekistan to address its own problem in this regard, a Uzbek Sinologist said here on Friday.
The concept of building a moderately prosperous society, or "xiaokang," in China by 2020 is "playing an important role in reducing poverty," Ismatulla Bekmuratov, a professor of the Tashkent State Institute of Oriental Studies, told Xinhua in an interview.
The concept "underlines a kind of 'road map' for the gradual overcoming of poverty in China and this experience can be applied in Uzbekistan as well," Bekmuratov said.
Bekmuratov praised China's success in reducing poverty, referring to the more than 700 million people who have risen from poverty in the country, which led to a sharp drop in the total number of impoverished worldwide.
Chinese's provision of social guarantees including education, medical care and housing to poor families, and opportunities for the poor to run their own family businesses are worth learning, Bekmuratov said.
Poverty reduction remains a high priority for Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev since he came into power in 2016. This week, Mirziyoyev instructed the government to set up a new institution to address poverty in the country.
Around 4-5 million people or some 12 to 15 percent of the population in Uzbekistan now live below the poverty line, according to the president.
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