​CIDCA holds Q2 2026 press conference (full text)

Tang Ying: Friends from the media, welcome to the 2026 second-quarter routine press conference of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA).

Starting from this press conference, we are introducing a new segment titled "feature story of international cooperation project". At the conclusion of the Q&A session, I will share a project case. This initiative is designed to provide everyone who follows China's foreign aid and international development cooperation with a more multi-dimensional, comprehensive, and vivid understanding of relevant measures and outcomes.

To begin, in light of the recent severe earthquake in Venezuela, which has drawn widespread attention, I would like to brief on the latest progress of China's emergency humanitarian assistance to the country:

Recently, a devastating earthquake struck Venezuela, causing severe casualties and property losses. Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in the country. On June 26, President Xi Jinping sent a message of sympathies to acting President Delcy Rodríguez over the disaster. The Chinese government immediately provided emergency humanitarian cash assistance to the Venezuelan side for earthquake relief.

In view of the severity of the disaster, the Chinese government has decided to provide an additional emergency humanitarian material assistance worth 100 million yuan ($147,293.14) to Venezuela in support of its disaster response and reconstruction effort. We believe that under the leadership of the Venezuelan government, the Venezuelan people will surely overcome the disaster and rebuild their homelands at an early date.

Xinhua News Agency: In the first half of this year, heads of state from multiple countries visited China. We noticed that news reports mentioned "promoting more deliverables in pragmatic cooperation across various fields." Could you introduce the achievements of foreign aid and international development cooperation within head-of-state diplomacy?

Tang Ying: Serving head-of-state diplomacy is the primary responsibility of China's foreign aid and international development cooperation in the new era. This year marks the inaugural year of China's 15th Five-Year Plan and the fifth anniversary of the Global Development Initiative (GDI), proposed by President Xi Jinping. In the first half of this year, heads of state from numerous countries - ranging from major Western powers to Global South nations - embarked on intensive visits to China, driving mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation across various sectors. Over the past six months, focusing on key areas of development cooperation between China and the visiting nations, CIDCA has meticulously designed and delivered dozens of foreign aid and international development cooperation outcomes. We have signed intergovernmental development cooperation agreements, as well as memoranda of understanding on advancing the implementation of the GDI and on human resources development cooperation, and letters of exchange on project initiation. These outcomes span infrastructure, vocational training, smart education, agricultural poverty alleviation, public health and others.

Take Mozambique as an example. During the visit to China by President Daniel Chapo of Mozambique this April, and witnessed by the two heads of state, CIDCA signed several cooperation documents with relevant Mozambican government departments. These included the letters of exchange on the feasibility study for technical assistance to the Mozambique-China Cultural Center and a memorandum of understanding on human resources development cooperation. President Chapo also led a delegation to attend the Third High-Level Conference of the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development hosted by CIDCA. In his address, he expressed that the GDI places development at the center of the global agenda and holds profound international significance.

China always honors its words with actions, and delivers results with perseverance. Moving forward, guided by the strategic vision of the Four Global Initiatives, and utilizing the implementation of head-of-state diplomatic outcomes as a key driver, we will continue to explore and implement "small yet smart" livelihood projects with various development partners. Furthermore, we will work in concert with relevant departments to steadily advance the development cooperation measures announced at major diplomatic events, such as the FOCAC Beijing Summit, SCO Tianjin Summit, the Global Leaders' Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment, and the Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum, thereby playing an active role in boosting economic and social development and improving livelihoods across the Global South.

China News Service: We have noted that under the framework of implementing the GDI, China has established the Global Development Project Pool and carried out over 1,800 cooperation projects. Could you introduce the development of this project pool?

Tang Ying: In June 2022, President Xi Jinping chaired the High-level Dialogue on Global Development and announced 32 pragmatic measures to implement the GDI, which included the establishment of a project pool. The Global Development Project Pool under the GDI is developed under the principles of "voluntary participation, multi-party cooperation, innovative approach, open and transparent operation". Through the Incubation Pool, it allocates resources including policies, funds, materials, and technologies to support project implementation. It also provides information and publicity services through its Achievement Pool to showcase project outcomes. Currently, the Project Pool Information Management System has been developed and launched, enabling full-lifecycle management of listed projects and enhancing our level of informatization, digitalization, and transparency.

Over the past four years, hundreds of partners have actively participated in building the Global Development Project Pool, launching over 1,800 projects that fully cover the GDI's eight priority areas and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Notably, in response to the new challenges of the digital divide, China has created the "Digital South" brand project under the framework of the Global Development Project Pool. We will work alongside domestic and foreign partners to design development projects that boost digital construction in the Global South, sharing the fruits of digital transformation and development experience to help the Global South seize opportunities in the digital era. We welcome more domestic and foreign partners to participate in the development of the Global Development Project Pool.

CGTN: Earlier this month, CIDCA announced that China would provide assistance to relevant African countries and the African Union to fight the Ebola epidemic. Could you brief us on the latest progress?

Tang Ying: China has a long-standing commitment to firmly supporting Africa in addressing major public health challenges. In 2015, China went all out to support three West African nations in fighting the Ebola epidemic. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, China provided immediate assistance across thousands of miles, fighting on the front lines alongside the African people. China has also continuously helped Africa tackle public health challenges such as malaria, AIDS, and schistosomiasis, yielding strong results. Following the outbreak of this recent round of Ebola, China acted swiftly, immediately providing emergency humanitarian assistance to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and dispatching an anti-epidemic medical expert team to assist in local epidemic prevention and control. China will also deliver a batch of anti-epidemic materials to Uganda.

While providing bilateral aid, China has also extended anti-epidemic support to the African Union, actively engaging in multilateral cooperation on epidemic prevention and control to help the Africa CDC improve its public health emergency response system and enhance regional joint prevention and control capabilities. Currently, 44 Chinese medical teams consisting of nearly 1,000 professionals are working shoulder to shoulder with African communities to fight the epidemic. China will continue to soundly implement the China-Africa Partnership Action for Health, helping Africa overcome the epidemic and weather this difficult time at an early date.

Phoenix TV: Cape Verde's debut in the World Cup has recently sparked heated discussions among netizens. Notably, the critical match in the qualifiers that secured its qualification for the tournament was played at the National Stadium built with Chinese assistance. Could you introduce China's assistance to sports development in Cape Verde and the wider African region?

Tang Ying: This year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Cape Verde. For a long time, China has adhered to the principles of sincerity, real results, amity, and good faith in its cooperation with Africa, providing assistance within its capacity to support sports development in African nations, including Cape Verde. In 2014, the National Stadium built with Chinese assistance was successfully completed. This filled the gap of having no national-level tournament venue in the country and became a landmark project of China-Cape Verde friendship. Furthermore, China's assistance to the National Stadium goes beyond a mere turnkey delivery. We have dispatched successive technical expert teams for on-site operations and maintenance, upgrading firefighting, lighting, and broadcasting systems, while simultaneously training local personnel to ensure the long-term, stable operation of the venue to continuously serve the local public.

Such projects are not isolated cases. The Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, which was built with Chinese assistance, served as the official main venue for the 34th Africa Cup of Nations in 2024. At the invitation of Senegal, China dispatched an expert team to participate in the performance design for the opening ceremony of the upcoming Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, while assisting in training Senegalese athletes and coaches.

Sports assistance serves as a unique vehicle for pragmatic China-Africa development cooperation. It is a vivid practice of promoting friendly cultural exchanges and implementing the Four Global Initiatives. We look forward to African athletes achieving great success on the international stage, writing new chapters of cultural exchange and mutual learning alongside athletes from all nations.

Bernama: The year 2026 marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. What pragmatic cooperation has been carried out between the two sides in the field of international development cooperation?

Tang Ying: China and ASEAN are connected by mountains and seas, sharing a common destiny. The two sides are vital partners in co-building the Belt and Road initiative and implementing the GDI. For a long time, China has focused on aligning its development strategies with ASEAN, carrying out numerous items of pragmatic cooperation in areas such as capacity building, planning consultation, and disaster prevention and mitigation.

Under the framework of the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, or GDSSCF, China has partnered with international organizations — including UNDP, UNICEF, and WHO — to implement over 20 projects in cooperation with ASEAN member states. These projects span poverty alleviation, education, health, and food assistance. China has also conducted human resources development cooperation with ASEAN countries, focusing on priority areas for livelihood development such as public administration, economy and trade investment, and agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries, playing an active role in regional economic and social development.

Moreover, whenever ASEAN countries face major natural disasters, China always extends a helping hand in a timely manner, providing relief when it is needed most and demonstrating the neighborly bonds of mutual assistance through concrete actions. This year, the China-ASEAN Disaster Management Cooperation Project was officially launched. This will further enhance regional disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities, injecting fresh momentum into building a more resilient ASEAN region.

Taking the fifth anniversary of the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership as an opportunity, China will continue to strengthen bilateral and multilateral development cooperation, deliver more pragmatic outcomes, and promote the building of a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, thereby contributing to regional peace, stability, and prosperity.

Tang Ying: We now proceed to the segment of "feature story of international cooperation project".

Green development is a defining feature of Chinese modernization and a key priority area for GDI cooperation. Today, I would like to share a flagship project of China-Laos green cooperation — the Vientiane Saysettha Low-Carbon Demonstration Zone. Located within the Saysettha Comprehensive Development Zone in Vientiane, it is one of the ten low-carbon demonstration zones developed by China for developing countries. It stands as a landmark project for South-South cooperation on addressing climate change under the framework of building a China-Laos community with a shared future.

Since the inauguration of the demonstration zone four years ago, both sides have worked closely to integrate China's successful experience in green development into the construction plan of the zone. We have upgraded green infrastructure through low-carbon lighting, driven low-carbon lifestyles via low-carbon transportation, and enhanced urban governance capabilities alongside residents' low-carbon and environmental awareness through capacity building. China has provided the zone with solar lighting equipment, new energy vehicles, and environmental law enforcement vehicles, complemented by human resources training. Solar streetlights manufactured in China now illuminate the night roads for local residents, and Chinese new energy buses have become a popular convenience for local passengers to experience and photograph. According to estimates by relevant departments, the first batch of new energy equipment delivered by China alone can reduce carbon emissions by over 1,200 tons annually, equivalent to the carbon sequestration effect of planting more than 100,000 trees. Concurrently, the project has effectively boosted local employment, providing convenience and security for hundreds of enterprises from China and multiple countries within the region to establish and grow their businesses.

As President Xi Jinping pointed out, "The purpose of the GDI is to make growth opportunities accessible to all, promote inclusive development paths, allow people of all nations to share development achievements, enable countries in the global village to seek common prosperity, and turn win-win concepts into global consensus." We must not only protect our own environment but also work alongside neighboring countries and indeed all nations to safeguard the same blue sky. China will continue to advance South-South cooperation on climate change, deepening pragmatic cooperation with Laos and other developing nations in green infrastructure, clean energy, and disaster prevention and mitigation, enhancing capabilities to address climate change and improving the collective well-being of humanity.