"If I hadn't come to China, I would never know that nearly 800 million people were lifted out of poverty in China since it began reform and opening up in 1978", Eric Nilson, an American working as a reporter at China Daily in Beijing, told CCTV.

"The huge population is almost equivalent to that in Europe, meaning China contributed more than 70 percent in the global efforts in poverty alleviation," said Nilson, adding that this is a great story in human history, but many in the world did not know about it.

Born in Michigan in the United States, 38-year-old Nilson used to dream of being a war correspondent. However, he changed his dream after he got an internship at China Daily and finally decided to start his journalism career at the news organization.

Based on his reports, Nilson wrote a book titled Closer to Heaven: A Global Nomad's Journey Through China's Poverty Alleviation, which is published in English and Chinese.

During his interview with CCTV News, Nilson shared his two experiences respectively in Wenchuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province and Yushu in northwest China's Qinghai Province.

Nilson went to the earthquake region 15 times after the devastating magnitude-8.0 earthquake hit Wenchuan County on May 12, 2008.

"The earthquake region is different from the other places I visited. At first, I found everything was in a mess and people were nervous," Nilson said.

"However, during my last visit to the region, I saw the reconstructed county and the whole reconstruction took less than five years, which is shorter than the 10 years or more that the locals thought after the deadly quake," said Nilson, adding that he thought few countries could make such achievements in this kind of huge disaster.

He also shared his experience installing solar panels in northwest China's Qinghai Province in 2011.

Nilson went to install solar panels in Yege Town, Qumalai County, northwest China's Qinghai Province in July, 2011, after being told by a headmaster from a school in Qinghai that his school was not electrified and two solar panels worth around 10,000 yuan ($1,549) could help solve the problem.

Nilson wrote in his book that when the lights beamed out, students cheered.

He still remembered the scene when a girl gave him a whip she made to thank him for installing solar panels at her school. I was really touched when she said she could give me nothing except the whip to express her gratitude, Nilson said.

From 2011 to 2019, Nilson traveled between Beijing and Qinghai many times. Gradually, he realized changes happened in Qinghai. For example, a trip from the downtown of Yushu to Yege Town took less than three hours in 2019, but it took 12 hours when he first arrived.

The change has a lot to do with China's poverty alleviation campaign, especially the targeted poverty alleviation plan rolled out across the country since 2013. Infrastructure, including roads and electricity, in Qumalai County, Qinghai Province improved vastly thanks to the national policy.

Nilson also stressed the importance of professional training, such as Thangka and migrant relocation adopted by local government in light of the severe geological environment.

His experience in Qinghai helped him build a friendship with the locals. Years ago, one of his family members got sick and many herdsman in Qinghai prayed for their recovery. He always kept that in mind.

In 2016, Nilson became the youngest ever foreigner to be awarded the Chinese Government Friendship Award, which was established by the Chinese government to praise foreign experts for their contributions to China's social and economic development.