中国高度重视儿童的发展问题

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong says a country's hope lies in the children and the Chinese government is sparing no effort to improve conditions for children.

"Over the past few years, China has stuck to the principle of giving priority to the children. Based on that, we have mapped out a 2020 program for development of women and children. The program will be implemented and updated along with the development of our economy. It made a significant contribution to the development of children's conditions."

Li made the remarks while attending a meeting on early childhood development at Brookings Institution, a Washington think-tank.

She says notable progress has been made in several aspects, including improvement in children's health, stronger legal protection and more equitable education opportunities.

As part of the reform plans pressed forward after the key CPC meeting, the authorities vow to balance the allocation of resources in urban and rural areas while building standardized public schools.

Liu Yandong also points out since China and the U.S. share the same goal of safeguarding children's welfare, the two countries have a broad space for cooperation.

Also attending the meeting, former U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton says the dialogue on early childhood development set up by the two countries is a great example for cultural exchange.

"This is yet another way that we can see cooperation, we can see our researchers working together, we can see our early childhood experts and teachers working together. And we can build stronger ties starting from the very beginning of life. That will send unmistakable signals to our people and both our countries and to the world, that we intend to, as I often said, cross the river together in the same boat, rowing in the same direction."

Clinton also complimented the progress China has made on children's development, saying such goals will be one of the most important commitments China is making.

Also on Wednesday, the Chinese Vice Premier has also met with the US Vice President Joseph Biden and visited the Confucius Institute of George Washington University.

She spoke highly of the educational exchange programs between China and U.S., saying language is the bridge connecting people's hearts.

Liu is scheduled to co-chair the fourth China-U.S. High-level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington on Thursday.

For CRI, I'm qizhi.