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China, when gauged according to the numbers of its citizens who are illiterate adults, ranks as the eighth worst among ten sample countries selected from around the world, according to a report released by UNESCO on Tuesday.Around 72 percent of the illiterate adults in the world live in the ten countries, which were chosen from 128 countries, according to the report.
联合国教科文组织本周二发布的一份报告称，在全世界文盲率最高的十个国家中，中国的成人文盲数位列第八，这十个国家的成人文盲总数约占全世界文盲总数的72%。

"Although China has maintained strong progress toward universal adult literacy, its illiterate population is still one of the biggest in the world," Tang Qian, assistant director-general for the education sector under the UNESCO, told China Daily during a forum in Beijing on Tuesday.
中国近几年在降低失学率方面取得了显著进步，但是不断加大的城乡教育差距同时也在阻碍整体教育水平的提高。

"China has the biggest educational system in the world and largest population among developing countries," he said. "So when China makes progress, the resulting statistics for the world are impressive."
中国拥有世界上最大的教育体系，同时还是人口最多的发展中国家，虽然中国一直致力于全民扫盲工作，但是成人文盲数量仍然在世界前列。