White paper details China's foreign aid priorities

The Chinese government announced on Thursday that poverty reduction and improvement of people's livelihood have been important objectives in its assistance to other developing nations in recent years.

The country has prioritized agriculture, education, medical and health services, public welfare facilities and emergency humanitarian aid in its support for other developing countries, according to a white paper released by the Information Office of the State Council, which detailed the country's foreign assistance from 2010 to 2012.

[Read more: China issues white paper on foreign aid] 

In promoting agricultural development in other developing nations, China has helped build 17 technology demonstration centers in 17 recipient countries from 2010 to 2012. It had also sent agricultural experts to these countries to take part in agricultural planning and training of personnel, according to the white paper.

Meanwhile, China continuously enhanced its educational aid by providing help for 80 projects related to education facilities over the years. The country has helped train over 1,000 teachers from other developing countries, boosted vocational and technical education, and assisted 76,845 foreign students to study in China through scholarships offered by the Chinese government.

The country assisted about 80 construction projects for medical facilities in recipient countries over the years while providing them with about 120 batches of medical equipment and medicine. China's assistance to other developing countries for prevention and control of infectious diseases alone amounted to 200 million yuan (32.5 million US dollars) during the period, the white paper said.

In terms of public welfare facilities, China undertook 29 well-drilling and water supply projects, assisted 80 residential housing and affordable housing projects totaling about 600,000 square meters in floor space, and assisted 86 construction projects for public cultural venues, sports venues, office buildings and conference centers in other developing countries from 2010 to 2012, the paper said.

Over the past few years, China provided emergency relief materials worth 1.2 billion yuan to countries affected by natural disasters or humanitarian crises. It assisted African countries in coping with a food crisis in 2011 and 2012, and supported reconstruction in countries affected by disasters, the white paper said.