China has made great progress in improving the life of women and children in the western region, said Edwin Joseph Judd, area representative for China and Mongolia of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Judd made this remark at a meeting yesterday, which assembled delegates from 11 western provinces and autonomous regions.
China has reduced the mortality rate of infant and children below 5 years old by 90 percent and more than 90 percent of Chinese children were immunized. “The progress is outstanding and admirable,” Judd noted.
The Chinese government has invested 100 million yuan to cut the maternal mortality rate and the projects are first implemented in 88 poverty-stricken rural counties in the west region.
The living status of Chinese women and children is the best in the history and the government will keep focusing on the life of women and children in rural and poverty-stricken areas, said Liu Hairong, an official with the All-China Women’s Federation.
(Xinhua 12/04/2000)
