Deeds accord with words. With decades of tireless efforts, China has achieved a complete victory in eradicating absolute poverty, which beset the Chinese people for thousands of years. Over the past 40-plus years of reform and opening up, 770 million rural residents living under the current poverty line have been up and out of poverty, contributing to over 70 percent of the world's poverty reduction. In particular, since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2013, China has lifted over 10 million people out of poverty every year on average, which is equivalent to the population of a medium-sized country. China has completed the goal of poverty reduction set in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years in advance. The Chinese people are proud of this huge achievement in poverty alleviation, which has also won extensive acclaim from the international community. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says that the notable accomplishment of China's poverty alleviation is a significant contribution to a better and more prosperous world as envisioned by the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He also says that China's extraordinary achievements have brought hope and inspiration to the whole world.
Numerous experiences can be drawn from China's success, such as wise leadership of the ruling party, a people-oriented working style, the whole-of-society concerted performances and a targeted strategy of poverty alleviation. As understood, economic growth is a prerequisite. China saw good development and achieved fast growth-which was almost 10 percent on average annually, attributing to the policy of opening-up and reform initiated in 1978. In the past few decades, China contributed around 30 percent to the global economic growth. Under the circumstance of COVI-19 pandemic, China's economy increased by 2.3 percent and remained the only major economy to register positive growth in the year 2020.
This year of 2021 is a new start for China to build a modern socialist country eventually. As scheduled in the CPC Central Committee's Proposals for the Formulation of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, by the end of 2025, China's economy is expected to reach the current level of high-income countries and China's GDP or per capita income will be doubled by 2035.
China will continue to be a major powerhouse for global growth , which will create enormous cooperation opportunities and growth impetus worldwide. China has a population of 1.4 billion while its middle-income group accounts for over 400 million. China's huge market is the most promising one in the world. As estimated, China's import will be more than 22 trillion US dollars in the coming decade. The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative is expected to help 7.6 million people out of absolute poverty and 32 million out of moderate poverty.
Today, both China and Samoa have entered a new stage of development. China is willing to strengthen mutual exchanges in all aspects with the Samoan side and synergize our works to correlate China's 14th Five-Year Plan to Samoa 2040 Strategy, focusing on pragmatic cooperation in Tourism, Agriculture and Fishing, Digital Economy and other fields. In the context of Sino-Samoa comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the cooperation can contribute more to Samoa's economic growth and the well-being of Samoan people, especially the most vulnerable ones. Just as stated in Samoa 2040 Strategy, economic growth is the single best mechanism for improving livelihoods among the poorest.
Samoa's pristine natural environment, splendid culture and unique way of life make it an ideal destination for Chinese tourists. Once Samoa's border reopens, Chinese arrivals will surely resume to normal. As before, China will continue to provide Technical and Vocational Education and Training(TVET) Programs in the tourism industry. On the basis of the Agreement Between China and Samoa Relating to Civil Air Transport signed in 2016, hopefully our two countries could work together to implement it and establish the direct flight at its earliest arrangement.
China has been committed to boosting Samoa's agriculture and fishery industry. The decade-old Samoa-China Agricultural Technical Aid Project has established 1 demonstration farm, 9 agricultural stations and trained more than 10,000 farmers for Samoa. The current Fifth Phase starting from last year aims to increase local production capacity of vegetables, citrus and broilers. Furthermore, the health products, such as noni juice, virgin coconut oil and cocoa have demonstrated good prospects for exporting to China. The two governments also signed a protocol on the inspection, quarantine and sanitation requirements for marine fish exports, tapping the Chinese market potential under the premise of avoiding over-exploitation of fishing resources. There are also opportunities associated with transshipment of fish to China.
The importance of digital economy has been further highlighted in the context of COVID-19. Samoa 2040 strategy has set digital economy as one focus area. Notable progress has already been made so far, such as the deployment of Tui Samoa cable and liberalization of the ICT sector. Similarly, China formulates a national plan on IT application for the 14th Five-Year Plan period. China's digital economy now accounts for more than 1/3 of its GDP and the proportion will increase to 50 percent by 2027. China is going to be the first country with its e-commerce sales outstripping bricks-and-mortar retail in 2021. As such, our two sides can synergize our works to coordinate in digital development strategies and enhance our cooperation in areas of ICT infrastructure establishment, ICT awareness raising, digital finance development, cross-border e-commerce ,regulatory policy exchange and so on.
Experience of the past bolster a better future. Over the last twenty years, Samoa has made impressive progress in economic development, setting out of the LDC category successfully. China's experiences prove that no country is destined to be poor. China is happy to work with Samoa to pursue the goals in our respective blueprint. I am confident that both Samoa and China will see robust social and economic development. Let us work together towards a prosperous future.
By H.E. Chao Xiaoliang, Chinese Ambassador to Samoa