By Micheal Ojenwu
Hu Heping, China’s minister of Culture and Tourism on Monday launched the Hausa version of President Xi Jinping’s book, “Up and Out of Poverty” at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
In his address, the minister said the book “Up and Out of Poverty” is the result of President Xi’s philosophical thinking and practical exploration of the promotion of local economic and social development during his tenure as Party Secretary of Ningde in Fujian Province, a relatively backward area in the late 1980s.
“Today, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has won the battle against poverty, solved the long-standing problem of absolute poverty, and realized the millennial dream of a prosperous Chinese nation,” Hu Heping, who also doubles as the Executive Deputy Head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee said.
The minister noted that many foreign countries are interested in how President Xi eliminated poverty and promoted development during his work from local to central government, and hope to find out the deep-seated reasons why the CPC has been able to lead China to prosperity and strength, and why contemporary China has been able to develop rapidly.
He said the publication and distribution of the Hausa edition of “Up and Out of Poverty” will become a new vector for the exchange of experience in governance between China and Nigeria and add “new significance to the deepening of mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.”
Earlier in his remarks, Adamu Lamuwa, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, thanked the Chinese government for taking the initiative to share the contents of Xi’s book with other non-Mandarin readers through the Hausa translation.
He expressed confidence that that book will contribute to Nigeria’s effort towards poverty eradication because Hausa is one of the most widely spoken languages in Nigeria.
Since assuming office in 2012, China under the leadership of President Xi has successfully lifted over 100 million rural people out of poverty, accounting for more than 75 per cent of poverty reduction in the world.
The Hausa edition of “Up and Out of Poverty” was published by Mosuro Publishers with support from the Information Office of the State Council of China, China International Communication Group, Centre for China Studies and the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria.
