Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico, delivers a keynote speech during the Understanding China Conference in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, Oct 26, 2019. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

"Western society still has many misunderstandings about China," said Kishore Mahbubani, a distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore.

"In addition to what I call irrational fears, there are emotional and subconscious fears, which also cause misunderstandings," the expert said in an exclusive interview during the fourth Understanding China Conference which closed Sunday.

Mahbubani hopes the world can know more about China through the conference, saying that the conference is "timely and important" with new consensuses achieved.

A view of the Lower Sesan II hydroelectric power station at Sesan District of Stung Treng Province, Cambodia, Sept 20, 2019 . The Lower Sesan II hydroelectric power station, born of cooperation between Cambodia and China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, was inaugurated in December 2018. With a length of 6,500 meters, the 400-megawatt dam is the largest and the seventh one built by China in Cambodia. (Photo by Chen Gang/Xinhua)

According to Mahbubani, the development of China has not only brought benefits to its own people but also to countries around the world.

"The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has linked China extensively with its neighbors," he said, adding that with strengthened cooperation, more dividends will be seen among B&R countries.

Mahbubani also spoke highly of China's role in world poverty alleviation. "I think it means a lot for the world."

Villagers pack harvested tangerines in Pingshan township of Luzhai county in Liuzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Oct 24, 2019. In recent years, local authorities have been promoting tangerine industry. Currently, a total of 42 cooperatives have been established and plantation area has reached 4,000 hectares. Over 400 villagers in poverty got employed. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)

Since 2000, more people have shaken off poverty worldwide, and the number continues to grow rapidly, he said.

Between 2013 and 2018, China lifted 82.39 million rural residents out of poverty, about the entire population of Germany. China has made historic achievements in fighting poverty over the past decades, making itself a major contributor to the world's poverty reduction endeavors.

"If China can bring its poverty down to zero, that would inspire the world," he said.