South-south Cooperation and Chinese Foreign Aid

Meibo Huang, Xiuli Xu, Xiaojing Mao, Meibo Huang, Xiuli Xu, Xiaojing Mao

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9789811320019
• eBook ISBN:
  9789811320026
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: African Politics
• Index: Social Sciences

This book is a collection of 15 case studies on China's foreign aid and economic cooperation with developing countries. Each case introduces the general information of a China's project, analyzes its features and impacts, and especially focuses on analysis of the characteristics of China's foreign aid under South-South Cooperation framework, which shows the differences of foreign aid by emerging economies from that by traditional donors in aid ideology, principles, practices, and effects. This book is one of the research projects by China International Development Research Network (CIDRN), as part of its contribution to the activities under the Network of Southern Think-tanks (NeST).

© The Author(s) 2019

Meibo Huang, Xiuli Xu and Xiaojing Mao (eds.)South-south Cooperation and Chinese Foreign Aidhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2002-6_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction: South–South Cooperation and Chinese Foreign Aid

Meibo Huang¹

(1)

International Development Cooperation Academy, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, Shanghai, China

Meibo Huang

End Abstract

South–South cooperation (SSC) originated in the 1950s. It can be broadly defined as cooperation at bilateral, multilateral, regional, or interregional levels that is initiated, organized, and managed by developing countries themselves, in order to promote political, economic, social, cultural, and scientific development.¹ The United Nations Conference on Technical Co-operation among Developing Countries, held in Buenos Aires in 1978, clearly outlined SSC as consisting of technical and economic cooperation between developing countries.² South–South development assistance refers to the development assistance provided to another developing country by a country of the global South. Since the start of the twenty-first century, a group of emerging economies (the BRICS countries) has become the backbone of South–South development assistance in the new era. The development assistance provided by these countries, which falls under the framework of SSC, has its own unique features regarding the scale of and approaches to aid, regional and sector distribution, aid channels and aid management, largely due to their differences in historical conditions, development situation, environment, and so on. However, some features are commonly seen in SSC.

With the start of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, the goal of global development is shifting from poverty reduction to sustainable development. The Sustainable Development Goals, the higher goals set for all countries in the new era, touch on existing development problems; they place an emphasis on the balance between economy, society and environment, and work toward benefits for current and future generations.³ Sustainable Development Goal 17 highlights the importance of SSC and development assistance.⁴ For providers of South–South development assistance, it is urgent and necessary to thoroughly study the concept, principles, methods, and effects; to sum up the experience and establish a system for SSC; to enhance the effectiveness of South–South development assistance; and to expand the impact of South–South development assistance in the international development assistance system.

However, most South–South donors have problems with unsatisfactory data systems and incomplete statistics, thus it is difficult for researchers to conduct empirical analyses on the scale, sector distribution, regional distribution, and effects of aid. The more appropriate and constructive research method at this stage is, therefore, case study. Through this approach, we can thoroughly discuss the concepts, principles, methods, and effects of South–South development assistance, thus providing evidence for the establishment of a South–South development aid system.

Based on this approach, this book presents 15 cases of China’s foreign aid. Financial resources provided by China for foreign aid fall into three main types: grants, interest-free loans, and concessional loans; but all the aid projects presented here receive grants.

The cases represent four main types of aid (see Table 1.1): donating complete sets of equipment, technical cooperation, human resources development cooperation, and emergency-based humanitarian aid. Regarding regional distribution, Africa and Asia are the two continents receiving the most funds. For sector distribution, the focus is on infrastructure, agricultural assistance, and health care. Strictly speaking, the cases in Chaps. 15 and 16 (the Ethiopian industrial parks and the Zambia–China Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone) are examples of China’s foreign economic cooperation, not foreign aid.

Table 1.1

The case study projects^a

Project	Aid modality^b	Aid area^c	Aid field^d
Tanzania–Zambia railway	Complete projects	Africa	Economic infrastructure
	Technical cooperation
African Union Conference Center	Complete projects	Africa	Public facilities
	Technical cooperation
Madagascar’s General Hospital	Complete projects	Africa	Medical and health care
			Public facilities
China’s humanitarian assistance to Myanmar floods in 2015	Emergency humanitarian aid	Africa	Other (disaster relief)
China’s aid to Africa’s fight against Ebola	Emergency humanitarian aid	Africa	Medical and health care
Restoration of Angkor relics	Technical cooperation	Asia	Other (cultural relics protection)
Agricultural technology demonstration center in Tanzania	Complete projects	Africa	Agriculture
	Technical cooperation
	Human resource development cooperation
China–Tanzania Joint Learning Center	Technical cooperation	Africa	Agriculture
	Human resource development cooperation
Papua New Guinea and Fiji juncao technical cooperation	Complete projects	Oceania	Agriculture
	Technical cooperation
China–Uganda South–South Cooperation project under Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Food Security Framework	Technical cooperation	Africa	Agriculture
Agricultural trilateral cooperation of FAO + China + host country	Human resource development cooperation	Africa	Agriculture
CGCOC Agriculture cooperation project (Nigeria) and Jiangxi Ganliang agricultural cooperation (Equatorial Guinea)	Technical cooperation	Africa	Agriculture
China-Mozambique agricultural technology demonstration center	Complete projects	Africa	Agriculture
	Technical cooperation
Ethiopia Industrial Parks	Economic cooperation	Africa	Economic infrastructure
Zambia–China Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone	Economic cooperation	Africa	Economic infrastructure

Source: ^aPeople’s Republic of China (2011) White Paper: China’s Foreign Aid (2011) (Beijing: State Council Information Office). http://​english.​gov.​cn/​archive/​white_​paper/​2014/​09/​09/​content_​281474986284620.​htm

^bChina offers foreign aid in eight forms: complete projects, goods and materials, technical cooperation, human resource development cooperation, medical teams sent abroad, emergency humanitarian aid, volunteer programs in foreign countries, and debt relief

^cThe recipients of China’s foreign aid cover most developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Oceania, and Eastern Europe

^dChina’s foreign aid projects are oriented to agriculture, industry, economic infrastructure, public facilities, education, and medical and health care

Each of the 15 chapters contained in this book provides a concise introduction to the project and focuses on its characteristics and effects analysis, reflecting SSC principles, experience, and practice as well as current problems and challenges faced by Chinese foreign aid.

1.1 The Principles of South–South Cooperation and Chinese Foreign Aid

There are two main facets of South–South development assistance. It tends to be multifaceted, including development assistance provided bilaterally or multilaterally on grant or concessional terms, and other related economic and technical cooperation, such as trade, investment, capacity-building, technology, and knowledge transfer.⁵ On the other hand, South–South development assistance follows the principles of SSC, based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, namely mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual nonaggression, noninterference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. These form the basis of the Ten Principles proposed at the Bandung Conference of 1955, also known as the principles of SSC. In short, these include adherence to respect for partners’ sovereignty, no attached political conditions, and an emphasis on mutual benefit and win–win cooperation, as well as promoting economic development on both sides.⁶ From all the 15 cases we have studied, China’s foreign aid has always followed the principles of SSC.

1.1.1 No Political Conditions Attached

No political conditions are attached to South–South development assistance, which is based on the diplomatic principle of noninterference in others’ internal affairs. Providers of North–South development assistance argue that political conditions attached to development assistance could promote recipient countries’ establishment of Western-style democracy and governance systems, and might be beneficial to the supervision of recipient countries’ use of aid funds. However, attached political conditions mean a loss of sovereignty for recipient countries and the violation of the demand-oriented principle. South–South development assistance providers tend to think that the complexity and dynamics of the development environment make it hard for donor countries to determine the development needs of recipient countries in a timely and comprehensive manner. From a static point of view, however, a country’s development is rooted in its environment, and attached political conditions might not be suitable for recipient countries. Also, from a dynamic point of view, after World War II, donor countries’ attached political conditions keep changing over time with donors’ changing conceptions of aid, which could potentially hinder recipient countries from formulating long-term development plans. Most of the cases in this book show that Chinese foreign aid upholds sovereign equality, attaches no conditions, and exerts no interference in others’ internal affairs. China does not take foreign aid as a means to interfere with other countries’ internal affairs or a way to seek political privileges.

First, the principle of sovereign equality. The Tanzania–Zambia Railway project demonstrates China’s foreign aid philosophy of equality and mutual benefit, set under the framework of SSC. The Chinese Government provides foreign aid and believes that foreign aid should be mutually beneficial rather than unilateral (Chap. 2). China also adheres to the principle of equality between responsibility and rights, e.g., in the China–Uganda SSC project, which emphasizes support for Uganda’s ongoing Development Strategy and Investment Plan and ensures that the priority areas of cooperation are consistent with the strategy in order to meet the country’s agricultural development needs (Chap. 11).

Second, the principle of attaching no political conditions. Take the Madagascar General Hospital project as an example, this project takes the form of nonreimbursable assistance provided by China to improve local people’s livelihood and promote local development. When negotiating the construction of this hospital, China did not make any political demand or attach any political condition for the aid project (Chap....

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction: South–South Cooperation and Chinese Foreign Aid
• 2. Development and Characteristics of China’s Foreign Aid: The Tanzania–Zambia Railway
• 3. A Landmark in China–Africa Friendship: The China-Aided African Union Conference Center
• 4. From Microanalysis to Macroperspective of China’s Foreign Aid: Madagascar’s General Hospital Project
• 5. Chinese Foreign Humanitarian Assistance: Myanmar’s 2015 Floods
• 6. China’s Aid to Africa’s Fight Against Ebola
• 7. A Blend of “Hard” and “Soft” Assistance: China’s Aid to Cambodia
• 8. Technology and Knowledge Transfer: A Case Study of China’s Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in the United Republic of Tanzania
• 9. Peer-to-Peer Sharing in South–South Cooperation: From Village-Based Learning Center to China–Tanzania Joint Learning Center
• 10. China’s Agricultural Technical Cooperation: A Case Study on juncao Aid Projects in Papua New Guinea and Fiji
• 11. The China–Uganda South–South Cooperation Project Under FAO’s Food Security Framework
• 12. Agricultural Trilateral Cooperation: A Case Study of the FAO + China + Host Country Model
• 13. The Innovative Aid Mode of Agriculture Going Global to Promote Investment: CGCOC and Jiangxi Ganliang
• 14. “Aid + Investment”: The Sustainable Development Approach of China’s Agricultural Aid Project in Mozambique
• 15. China’s South–South Development Cooperation in Practice: China and Ethiopia’s Industrial Parks
• 16. Construction of the Zambia–China Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone and South–South Cooperation
• Back Matter