Roads at heart of poverty alleviation in China

"One way of (improving the relationship) could be Sino-American collaboration to meet the single greatest challenge humankind has ever faced: whether we can sustainably and nutritiously feed the 9 to 10 billion people who will be alive in 2049," he said.

For example, the two largest economies could work together to upgrade the rural road infrastructure across the African continent.

"In doing so, China and the United States would be assisting African institutions by literally providing them a 'road out of poverty'," he said.

Jorge Chediek, the UN secretary-general's former envoy on South-South cooperation, noted that the policies China implemented to reach the most disadvantaged allowed for the targeting of resources and opportunities to populations that are generally the most difficult to reach.

He was referring to the point when poverty in China dropped below 10 percent of the rural population, which happened around 2012, and targeted poverty alleviation and social-protection systems began to play a more critical role in going "the last mile" to reach the pockets of the remaining poor.

He also added that since its launch in 1978, reform and opening-up had unleashed a period of massive economic growth, which in turn provided employment and business opportunities, spawning unprecedented increases in national income.

"This reform process has been very well sequenced in terms of sectors and geographical scope," Chediek, the visiting professor at Catholic University in Buenos Aires, Argentina, told China Daily.

He said China has set a powerful example for other developing countries.

"The first reason is that China has shown that enormous development can happen, starting from a very low base. Second, this process can happen in a relatively short period of time. Third, you do not need to follow some of the traditional prescriptions coming from the Global North," he said.