Canada becomes latest Western country to slash China aid budget

China will see less direct aid from Canada by the end of next year, as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) slashes a large amount of aid spending by 2014-2015, the Canada's National Post reported Thursday.

CIDA expects to cut a total of $377 million in aid spending to 14 countries, including China. These countries will see their aid either reduced or eliminated then, according to an overhauled bilateral aid programming, with CIDA aiming to target funds more precisely and work more with the private sector, the report said.

In 2010-2011, China saw $30 million in aid from Canada via diversified channels, with a major part of this aid used for capacity-building programs, said the report.

CIDA Minister Julian Fantino said that the aid cut to China was recognition of the country's emergence as the world's second-largest economy. "CIDA has and will continue to evaluate and adjust international development investments so that they can deliver tangible results for those most in need around the world and contribute to Canada's values and interests," Fantino said in an e-mail to the National Post.

After China held the Olympics in 2008, many Western countries reduced aid to China. In 2011, Japan, the US and Europe decided to slash their China aid budgets.

China is still struggling to narrow its development gap between its affluent coastal cities and impoverished rural interior, He Maochun, director of the Research Center of Economy and Diplomacy at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times.

"Different countries need aid from different kinds of channels in various fields," He said. "China's leadership should also adjust its attitude toward receiving aid. This is a good way to enhance mutual trust and economic cooperation between aid donors and recipients."