It is the interest of the whole world to see China growing, a U.S. scholar has said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Khairy Tourk, professor of economics with the Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, named eradication of absolute poverty the greatest achievement China has made in the past decade.

As an economist studying development for many years, Tourk said he has learned to accept that extreme poverty will always exist. Thanks to the vision on eradicating extreme poverty of the Communist Party of China (CPC), "I've changed my mind."

Tourk said the leadership of the CPC is one of the major reasons behind China's success.

Tourk has been a visiting scholar at Renmin University of China since 2013. During his summer teaching and research over the years, Tourk wrote a book titled "The Belt and Road Initiative -- Chinese solution to a deficient global order," published in January 2022.

The initiative is essentially a connectivity project, connecting China with nations in Asia, Europe and Africa through building roads, rails, ports and bridges. "It's also connectivity between people. It was connectivity through dialogue of civilizations," Tourk said.

Noting many developing nations lack infrastructure, the scholar said: "Here comes China. It has both the funds and experience to build infrastructure in a record time."

Tourk said the initiative is "leading the foundation" for Africa's industrialization.

Regarding his visits to China, Tourk said, "I really enjoy my stay at Renmin. The students were hard-working. I formed close friendships with my academic friends."

"And these visits have allowed me to see firsthand how fast China is changing," he said.

However, he said two things have not changed: "the kindhearted nature of the Chinese people and the delicious Chinese cuisine."