A delegation of diplomats from seven European countries Sunday arrived at Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, to see poverty-relief efforts in two remote bordering areas.

The diplomats of Luxembourg, Belgium, Denmark, France, Romania, Switzerland and Germany and their wives will visit two counties in the prefectures of Wenshan and Honghe to see poverty-relief efforts there.

They will visit local villages, schools, businesses and government agencies and talk with local residents to boost mutual understanding and to deepen cooperation in poverty reduction, said Gao Shuxun, vice governor of Yunnan.

Gao said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have funded over 1,200 poverty-relief projects in the counties of Molipo and Jinping over the past 20 years and greatly improved the lives of local residents.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs have earmarked 266 million yuan (42.7 million U.S. dollars) to poverty reduction in the two counties since 1992. One third of the fund was from the European countries.

The efforts have helped to build 200 schools and 100 clinics, to bring 600,000 kids back to school and to lift over 100,000 local residents out of poverty.

Krieger Carlo, Luxembourg's ambassador to China, said that he looked forward to the trip to the remote villages in the bordering province of Yunnan.

Yunnan, which borders Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, has a population of 40 million from 26 ethnic groups.