South Sudan intends to follow China’s developmental path to eradicate poverty

A South Sudanese diplomat praised China's poverty eradication model on April 15 that has made the country become the world's second-largest economy, saying it could be replicated locally to unleash prosperity.

John Andruga Duku, South Sudan's Ambassador to China said that Beijing's unique economic development model offers viable lessons to his country as it heals from five years of civil strife.

He said the world's youngest nation needs to benefit from China's anti-poverty drive that has delivered success. He also noted that what helped China to eradicate poverty so rapidly in the past 40 years is infrastructure development. The official made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua on April 15. He came to Juba for official consultation with the government.

Duku said the oil-rich country's engagement with China is a win-win deal and South Sudan has embarked on infrastructure development through Chinese construction firms. "We want to reduce poverty through infrastructure development and we are now doing it with a Chinese firm, Shandong Hi-Speed Group Company Limited to construct our major highways linking Juba to the remote hinterland," said Duku.

The diplomat said that South Sudan considers China a dependable friend in its bid to hasten reconstruction.

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