Comparative Education Bulletin - Faculty of Education - The ...

eduction in China and internationally. The centre is thus the source
of analytical work on lessons from poverty reduction in China; it also
organizes training sessions on China’s poverty reduction experiences
for developing countries’ civil servants. As an example of this centre’
s outreach to distribute information about the Chinese development
path, one can cite a July 2006 Workshop on Poverty, Policy and
Practice for African Countries, attended by nineteen participants
from twelve countries, including Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia,
Mauritius, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia
and Zimbabwe. The outcome of the workshop pointed clearly at the
dissemination of a Chinese model for development:
First, [the] Chinese basic situation, especially efforts on
poverty reduction have been made known to all. The participants
were given detailed information on Chinese economic and
social development, current issues of agriculture, rural and
farmers, the history of poverty reduction in China, one body two
wings strategy, immigration and poverty reduction through the
development of tourism, compulsory education in rural China,
NGO roles in poverty reduction and local projects installed by
international agencies. …
Second, the field trip was a chance for the participants to
witness and learn from Chinese experience and policies. The trip to
Guangxi Province has led the participants to a deeper realization
that rural China was remarkably transformed by the reform and
opening-up policy adopted in the end of the 1970s and poverty
in rural areas was reduced by the national program of poverty
reduction. …
Third, friendship was growing in one another. Fifteen days
staying in China have convinced the participants that China is a
faithful and friendly nation. (IPRCC, 2006 pp.2-3).
The information provided during the workshop arguably
impressed the participants. The Ghanaian representative, for example,
said she was “astonished” by the village-based development model
she saw in Guangxi, and that she would “coordinate [the] Ghanaian
government agencies into the study of the experience and hard work
of the Chinese people” (see http://www.iprcc.org.cn). This attitude was
largely shared at the 2006 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, during
which many African leaders expressed interest in the development
path of China, stating that the best Africa can do, is to “do like the
Chinese” (Zambian Foreign Minister, cited by King, 2006).
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