Fiji eyes poverty eradication program with China: ambassador

Fiji aims to launch a poverty eradication pilot program, drawing on China's success in lifting 800 million people out of poverty, said Fiji's Ambassador to China Robert Lee, in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Beijing.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Lee expressed hope for deeper cooperation on the "soft side" of development, such as training, knowledge exchange, and capacity building. He highlighted that this would build on the strong foundation of infrastructure and strategic support China has already provided to the archipelagic nation.

Reflecting on the deepening bilateral ties over the years, Lee praised China's role in supporting Fiji's infrastructure and emphasized the need to now invest in human development.

"If we were to look at the strategic partnership, I think China has done a wonderful job on the 'hard' side in terms of provision of infrastructure or helping us build our infrastructure. But I think there's a lot that can be done on the 'soft' side, improving the capabilities in Fiji, the training, the people-to-people exchange, the understandings, the knowledge sharing. I think that's an area that we can focus on," he said.

Fiji hopes to learn from China's historic poverty reduction achievements as the two countries expand cooperation beyond infrastructure, according to Lee.

"I think going forward it's a lot of learning on our part. China has the capability to show us different pathways. [Fiji will] not necessarily [be] copying China's pathways, but learning from what works, what doesn't work. I think China has developed models in poverty eradication that are very applicable to us in Fiji and it's an area that we'd like to start a pilot, to do a pilot to work out a poverty eradication model and to use the words of China, 'with Fijian characteristics', because I think China is rich with experiences in poverty eradication. It's the only nation that's taken 800 million people out of poverty in one generation. I think we have a lot to learn from China in that in that area on the 'soft' side of development," said the ambassador.

Fiji eyes poverty eradication program with China: ambassador

The Langqi passenger terminal in Fuzhou of east China's Fujian Province officially commenced a new departure tax refund initiative for travelers heading on the "mini three links" route on Tuesday, with streamlined measures boosting the efficiency of tax refunds and speeding up customs clearance procedures.

The "mini three links" refers to direct trade, postal and transport services launched in 2001 between Fujian Province and the Taiwan-administered Kinmen and Matsu islands. It serves as a vital, convenient cross-strait passage for personnel exchanges and economic and trade interactions between the Chinese mainland and the Taiwan region.

At the heart of the upgraded service is an optimized procedure dubbed the "one document, one bag, one code" process, a simple and streamlined model designed to shorten clearance time for outbound passengers.

Under this framework, travelers who make purchases at designated pilot tax refund stores can have their qualified goods consolidated into a single sealed bag, with all corresponding tax refund information integrated into a unique QR code printed on the tax refund application form.

When departing via the Langqi passenger terminal, on-site customs officers only need to scan the QR code to retrieve and verify the details relating to the applicant's tax refund application. Travelers can then get quick customs clearance once the information is confirmed to be accurate, with no requirement to open their sealed shopping bags for repeated inspections.

Departure tax refund services launched at "mini three links" port in Fuzhou