Over 30 million rural Chinese have benefited directly from the United Nations World Food Program's (WFP) projects in China over the past 26 years, according to a survey commissioned by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture.

In a meeting between the organization and the ministry held in this capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province on Monday, the ministry said that millions have indirectly benefited from the integrated urban and rural development projects initiated by WFP, which finances land development, irrigation, infrastructure, and water and soil conservation in partnership with the Chinese government.

Zhang Huosheng, senior program officer of the WFP China Office said that WFP's China projects have provided US$1 billion worth of food to the country over the past 28 years, and boosted social development in 180 impoverished counties and regions.

He said that the reason why the WFP program has been a substantial success is that the WFP's initiation has won strong cross-sector support from the Chinese government.

Since 2001, the Chinese government's funding support of WFP projects has exceeded the total sum of the WFP's annual financing on the projects, said Zhang.

In the survey, the ministry found that the per unit farm yield tripled in WFP's project areas, the per capita grain consumption increased by 69 percent on average and the per capita income was 3.3 times higher than before.

"WFP projects have yielded social and ecological profits," said Li Zhengdong, director of the International Cooperation Department with the ministry.

Illiteracy has gone down, education has improved, more people have access to clean drinking water, roads were built into villages, and water and soil was better conserved in WFP project areas, said Li.

(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2005)