China proud of foreign aid record
Source: Agencies/Shanghai Daily |
April 22, 2011, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA defended its role as a foreign aid donor yesterday, saying its assistance boosts developing countries and provides a new alternative to Western donors who impose more conditions on recipients.
China's foreign aid has risen nearly 30 percent a year since 2004, and from 1950 to the end of 2009 had totaled 256.2 billion yuan (US$39.2 billion), the State Council Information Office said in its first white paper on the subject.
The gathering pace of Chinese aid is evident in many corners of the developing world, the white paper said. It is building roads and railways around Africa, cotton mills in Syria, cement plants in Peru and bridges in Bangladesh.
The paper said China's rise as a provider of aid was a positive at a time when the global financial crisis was straining most other countries' budgets.
China is a willing, well-funded partner for the developing world, ready to grant assistance without political strings attached, the white paper said.
"Currently, the global development environment is very grim," the white paper said, highlighting the impact of the global financial crisis, climate change, energy security and other challenges.
"China, as an important member of the international society, will as always, push forward south-south cooperation, and based on continued economic development, gradually increase the input for external assistance."
Of the total 256.2 billion yuan in aid, the white paper said 40 percent is "free aid," or grants typically used for projects such as building hospitals, schools and low-cost housing. The rest is divided evenly between interest-free loans and concessionary, or low-interest, loans.
Those concessionary loans went to 76 countries and nearly two-thirds funded economic infrastructure projects while almost 9 percent supported oil and mining projects.
Nearly half of all foreign assistance in 2009 went to African countries and a third to Asia. The paper did not provide a figure for the amount of aid.
According to the white paper, China sent more than 21,000 medical workers to other nations and treated 260 million patients in those countries as of the end of 2009.
China's foreign aid has risen nearly 30 percent a year since 2004, and from 1950 to the end of 2009 had totaled 256.2 billion yuan (US$39.2 billion), the State Council Information Office said in its first white paper on the subject.
The gathering pace of Chinese aid is evident in many corners of the developing world, the white paper said. It is building roads and railways around Africa, cotton mills in Syria, cement plants in Peru and bridges in Bangladesh.
The paper said China's rise as a provider of aid was a positive at a time when the global financial crisis was straining most other countries' budgets.
China is a willing, well-funded partner for the developing world, ready to grant assistance without political strings attached, the white paper said.
"Currently, the global development environment is very grim," the white paper said, highlighting the impact of the global financial crisis, climate change, energy security and other challenges.
"China, as an important member of the international society, will as always, push forward south-south cooperation, and based on continued economic development, gradually increase the input for external assistance."
Of the total 256.2 billion yuan in aid, the white paper said 40 percent is "free aid," or grants typically used for projects such as building hospitals, schools and low-cost housing. The rest is divided evenly between interest-free loans and concessionary, or low-interest, loans.
Those concessionary loans went to 76 countries and nearly two-thirds funded economic infrastructure projects while almost 9 percent supported oil and mining projects.
Nearly half of all foreign assistance in 2009 went to African countries and a third to Asia. The paper did not provide a figure for the amount of aid.
According to the white paper, China sent more than 21,000 medical workers to other nations and treated 260 million patients in those countries as of the end of 2009.
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