Today, virtually every online shopping store or app in China – whether it’s Amazon or ASOS or the very popular TAOBAO – offers the option of making a ‘wish list’. It’s an incredibly helpful way to give some helpful hints to friends and family for occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries. That said, there is always a bit of me that feels a bit awkward to share these lists. I often feel that I’m imposing my own preferences on everyone else and limiting their creativity. On the other hand, I realize that I have a higher probability of valuing the present if I just ask directly for what I want. And the reality is that it’s beneficial for the rest of my family and friends as their search time for the right present is drastically reduced.  It is a better outcome for all of us if I just ask directly.

New Report that UNDP China issued earlier this year in June said that just asking directly is also the best strategy for countries wanting to get better data and information about aid from China.

In the academic community, there is a lot of discussion and conjecture about China’s foreign aid. The most authoritative report about China’s aid is from the government. Its 2014 White Paper put the scale of China’s aid at $14.4bn over 3 years. That paper also said that 51% of this is allocated to African countries, but it did not break down the data any further than that. So it is currently very difficult – if not impossible – to really understand accurately which specific countries China prioritizes in terms of giving foreign aid.

At UNDP China, our assessment is that this lack of data is not because such information is secret or sensitive, but because it is simply very difficult to collect.  Like getting the right present, the search time is simply too long and complex.

But, as our new study reveals, there is another way of collecting the data. And it involves African and other country governments just being proactive and asking directly for the data.  Over the past few years, 11 different governments – from Congo to Cambodia – have already done so. Officials have literally just asked the Economic Counsellor in their country to help them include Chinese data in their aid data records (which are often known as AIMS in the development world). In some cases, the government officials also asked UNDP country offices to help make these connections to Chinese counterparts in the country and help actively with the data—kind of like using amazon as the platform to compile the birthday list. But the basic point is the same: they just asked.

The great news is that in our 11 cases, the Economic Counsellor, when asked, said, “Yes we can”. In some cases, gathering the data into the records has taken several iterations, and in others the data requires even more work to ensure accuracy (it is often smaller than media reports, for example). But the fact that the “just asking” strategy has worked for these 11 countries is significant. More countries could follow suit, which would help them better plan for their budgeting priorities in particular because they fully understand the flows from China and many other countries.

Indeed, there is potential for the Chinese government itself to use this “just ask” strategy to, in time, build a complete picture of its foreign aid, from the bottom up, in country, where there is the best information about what is really happening.  This could be a better outcome for the countries receiving China’s foreign aid, and also a better outcome for China. Government officials in Beijing could compile this sort of information into a more comprehensive report on China’s foreign aid – perhaps a white paper or a regular annual report.  Of course, UNDP China would always be ready to help the government do so.

In addition, for countries that are interested in engaging China as a provider could use the 2nd monitoring round of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) as an opportunity to request for more data on their development co-operation efforts. The monitoring guide detailing mode of participation, indicator methodology, and data collection and reporting will be made available in the 3rd week of October on its on-line community space. The data collection period at the country level is from October 2015 to March 2016. The results of the survey will feed into a meeting of the GPEDC in Kenya in November 2016.

Now is the time for countries to work with the Chinese government on this important issue.


Hannah Ryder


Hannah Wanjie Ryder is the Head of Policy and Partnership  for UNDP China. You can reach her own blog by clicking here.

The content of this blog does not reflect the official opinion of UNDP. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in the blog lies entirely with the author(s).