BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday sent a congratulatory letter to the 2025 SCO (the Shanghai Cooperation Organization) Forum on Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development, held in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Xi pointed out that poverty eradication, a global issue, is a common goal of all countries in the world.

Through arduous efforts, China has successfully won the battle against poverty, achieved the poverty reduction target of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ten years ahead of schedule, blazed a poverty reduction path with Chinese characteristics, and written a new chapter in the history of mankind's fight against poverty, Xi said.

Stressing that the root cause of poverty is inadequate development, Xi said the SCO has actively carried out cooperation on poverty reduction and sustainable development in recent years, achieving remarkable results.

As the rotating chair of the SCO, China is willing to continuously enhance policy communication with all parties, share poverty reduction experience, deepen practical cooperation, help more countries explore poverty reduction and sustainable development paths that suit their national conditions, and join hands to build a beautiful world free from poverty and with common prosperity, Xi noted.

The forum opened in Xi'an on Tuesday under the theme of "Sustained Poverty Reduction and Cooperative Development: Advancing Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Development among SCO Countries." The forum was co-hosted by the SCO Committee on Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation and the People's Government of Shaanxi Province.