The Global Partnership for Poverty Alleviation and Development, aimed at promoting the exchange of poverty reduction experiences among countries and exploring pathways to fundamentally eliminate poverty, was launched on Wednesday in Beijing.

Jointly initiated by China, 53 other countries and nine international organizations, the partnership was announced during the two-day 2026 Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum.

Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong said the forum and the establishment of the partnership would push global poverty reduction onto a new journey and inject fresh momentum into pooling global strength and advancing poverty alleviation.

He said China would help improve poverty reduction capacity in developing countries through policy planning, experience sharing, technology demonstration and talent training. China also plans to support a number of "small but beautiful" cooperation projects tailored to the needs of developing countries, he added.

"At present, there is an urgent need for all parties to build consensus and accelerate global poverty reduction efforts," Liu said, proposing efforts to enhance endogenous development capacity by promoting market-driven and technology-enabled development.

The launch comes as the world faces challenges in meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Stephen Jackson, the UN Development System Resident Coordinator in China, reading a congratulatory letter from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said poverty remained "a global development emergency" despite recent progress.

"Eight hundred million women, children and men still live in extreme poverty — from remote rural communities to crowded urban slums," the letter said, warning that conflicts, climate change, inequality and debt burdens were worsening the situation.

The letter called on governments to invest in decent work, education, healthcare, rural development and social protection, while urging greater financial support for developing countries.

Delegates attending the forum said the new partnership could provide a platform for knowledge sharing and practical cooperation.

Vongsey Vissoth, permanent deputy prime minister and minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said his country warmly welcomed the initiative as "a timely platform for solidarity, mutual learning and practical cooperation".

Holding the forum in China carried special significance, he said."China's experience shows that poverty can be reduced at scale when clear vision, national ownership, broad-based growth, rural development, infrastructure, job creation and targeted public support work together," he said.

Robert Walker, professor emeritus at the University of Oxford and a professor at Beijing Normal University, said the partnership is a support for the world in achieving the SDG goals.

"Sharing expertise and knowledge would be essential, not for its own sake, but as a tool for reform, to make the world better, to ensure that poverty can be addressed," Walker said.

Heidi Kuhn, founder of United States-based NGOs Roots of Peace and Pax Agricultura and a World Food Prize laureate, called for broader global cooperation.

"I think China today has done something very extraordinary," Kuhn said. "I am certainly inspired, and I hope together we can work to plant global gardens for food security all over the world."

zhaoyimeng@chinadaily.com.cn