Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu said in Beijing Wednesday that China will strengthen pragmatic cooperation with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) of the United Nations to eliminate poverty.  

Hui told deputy secretary-general of the UN and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Kim Hak-Su during their meeting that such cooperation will also benefit economic and social development of China and the Asia-Pacific region.

Kim is here attending a session of the Asian and Pacific Center for Agricultural Engineering and Machinery (APCAEM), the first UN organization based in China.

Kim Hak-Su thanked China for its consistent support for the work of ESCAP. He said the APCAEM will help contribute to poverty elimination in the Asia-Pacific region.

(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2003)