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[BEIJING, 26th October 2007] - A UK NGO has warned the British government not to turn its back on China, following an announcement by British officials that UK financial support to the country would end in 2011. Whilst China undergoes a period of economic expansion, the scale of problems facing China’s children is described as “huge”. ”There are 50 million children living on less than the equivalent of $1 a day" said Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save the Children. “And millions of workers are heading to the cities - the furnaces of China's massive economic growth. They’ve been sucked into urban factories to make a living - producing the consumer goods that we demand here in Britain. “But the poorest children are most likely to lose out on this massive growth. Millions of children are left behind in poverty-stricken villages to be looked after by uneducated elderly relatives. “Others move with their parents into a life of urban poverty. Being a migrant child in the city is tough – they don't get a place in state school so those who can afford it have to pay for second-rate schools, while others don't go at all. With parents working long hours, children are often left to fend for themselves.” A new urban underclass? Ms Whitbread added that these children risked becoming part of a new urban underclass, perhaps turning to drugs and petty crime, or at risk from exploitation and trafficking. "China is undergoing an industrial revolution, similar to that which we in the UK went through in the 19th century. We risk seeing Dickensian scenes of child exploitation reminiscent of the mills and workshops of Victorian Britain. "But that was then and this is now. We need to make sure that our history isn’t repeated here, in China." China needs support But the international community - including the UK - appears to be ready to turn its back. “If the British government wants to be part of this and is serious about cutting levels of child poverty around the world, it needs to keep its focus on China, simply because of the massive numbers of children here. Cutting their budgets now, as they are planning, would be a mistake." Ms Whitbread added: "China may be a middle-income country but that belies the fact that almost half a million Chinese children die each year before they reach their fifth birthday. "To ignore this will be to give up on the challenge of reaching the Millennium Development Goals, to which Gordon Brown is committed."
Speaking from Beijing, Ms Whitbread also stated that "China is at a pivotal moment in its history. It recognises the scale of the problem facing its children and it wants to meet this challenge. China has avoided the massive slums that plague the urban centres of other Asian countries. But so much more needs to be done"
“There's a real buzz among people working to help the poorest and most vulnerable people here – we know a breakthrough is coming.