The Information Office of the State Council has produced a systematic introduction of China's foreign aid policy in a white paper titled China's Foreign Aid. The document, released on April 21, also elaborates on the financial resources, form, distribution and management of foreign aid, as well as international cooperation in this regard. It is the first white paper of its kind the Chinese Government has issued.

China's foreign aid program began in 1950, when it provided material assistance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Viet Nam, the white paper said. After the adoption of the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, China's economic cooperation with other developing countries extended from economic aid to mutually beneficial cooperation. Since the beginning of the 21st century, especially since 2004, China's financial assistance to foreign countries has increased rapidly, posting an average annual growth of 29.4 percent from 2004 to 2009.

More than $3.94 billion in debts wiped out

By the end of 2009, China had provided a total of 256.29 billion yuan ($39.47 billion) in aid to foreign countries, including 106.2 billion yuan ($16.35 billion) in grants, 76.54 billion yuan ($11.79 billion) in interest-free loans and 73.55 billion yuan ($11.33 billion) in concessional loans.

Complete projects, or productive or civil projects constructed in recipient countries with grants or interest-free loans from China, are a major form of China's foreign aid, the white paper said. At present, they account for 40 percent of China's foreign aid expenditure. By the end of 2009, China had helped developing countries construct more than 2,000 complete projects.

To reduce the debt burden on financially troubled countries, China has, on six occasions, canceled debts incurred by mature interest-free loans owed to China by heavily indebted poor countries and least developed countries with diplomatic ties with China. By the end of 2009, China had signed debt relief protocols with 50 countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania, canceling 380 mature debts totaling 25.58 billion yuan ($3.94 billion).

Helping 161 countries

The recipients of China's foreign aid are mainly low-income developing countries. By the end of 2009, China had helped 161 countries and more than 30 international and regional organizations, including 123 developing countries that receive aid from China regularly. The recipients cover most of the developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Oceania and Eastern Europe.

About two thirds of China's aid always goes to the least developed countries and other low-income countries. Asia and Africa, home to the largest poor populations, have received approximately 80 percent of China's aid.

Nearly 200 overseas relief operations in five years

Over the years, China has taken an active part in emergency relief operations in foreign countries, and now plays an increasingly important role in international emergency humanitarian relief, the white paper said. To make relief actions quicker and more effective, the Chinese Government established a response mechanism for emergency humanitarian relief and aid in foreign countries in September 2004. In December that year, when a huge tsunami hit Indian Ocean countries, China launched the largest overseas emergency relief operation in its history, providing 700 million yuan ($107.8 million) worth of aid to disaster-stricken countries.

In the past five years, the Chinese Government has provided, on nearly 200 occasions, emergency aid to foreign countries, including; offering emergency technical aid to Southeast Asian countries for the prevention and treatment of bird flu; aid in materials and cash to Guinea-Bissau hit by a locust plague and cholera; aid to Ecuador to fight dengue fever; and to Mexico to fight influenza A (H1N1). It also helped Iran, Pakistan, Haiti and Chile after severe earthquakes; Madagascar after a hurricane, Myanmar and Cuba following tropical storms, and Pakistan after flooding. In addition, it sent emergency food aid to the DPRK, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Burundi, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and other countries.

Focusing on recipients' development

China stresses people's living conditions and the economic development of recipient countries, making great efforts to ensure its aid benefits as many needy people as possible, the white paper said.

By the end of 2009, China had helped build 221 agricultural projects, 688 industrial and 442 economic infrastructure projects, and 687 public facilities in other developing countries. Of these, the Hama Textile Mill in Syria, the Cement Factory in Rwanda, the Rioja Cement Factory in Peru, the Agriculture Machinery Factory in Myanmar and the Loutété Cement Factory in the Republic of Congo have been keeping profitable. They employ a large number of local people and yield sound economic and social benefits.

The Sanaa-Hodeida Highway in Yemen, the Karakoram Highway and Gwadar Port in Pakistan, and the Tanzania-Zambia Railway have helped improve the environments of life and production for local people, and have created better conditions for the development of local economy and society.

By the end of 2009, China had helped developing countries build more than 130 schools and more than 100 hospitals and medical care centers. At present, with China's help, there are more than 30 hospitals under construction in various areas of the world.

From 1963, when China dispatched its first medical team overseas, to 2009, China altogether dispatched more than 21,000 medical workers overseas, and they have treated 260 million patients in recipient countries. In recent years, as the problem of global warming gets worse, China has increased aid to help other countries address climate change.

The white paper also summarizes the features of China's foreign aid policy: Unremittingly helping recipient countries build self-development capacity; imposing no political conditions; adhering to equality, mutual benefit and common development; remaining realistic while striving for the best; keeping pace with the times, and paying attention to reform and innovation.