BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- China issued on Thursday its first-ever white paper presenting an overall picture of its foreign aid activities over the past few decades.
The white paper, titled China's Foreign Aid, says that while focusing on its own development, China has provided as much aid as possible to other developing countries with economic difficulties and fulfilled its international obligations.
The white paper, issued by the Information Office of the State Council, or China's Cabinet, introduces China's foreign aid policy and the financial resources that the aid has drawn upon in the past, as well as revealing China's cooperation in international aid activities.
It also provides information about the distribution and management of China's foreign aid.
China first began to provide foreign aid in 1950, when it provided material assistance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Vietnam.
By the end of 2009, China had offered aid to 161 countries and more than 30 international and regional organizations, according to the white paper.
In detail, China provided 256.29 billion yuan (38.54 billion U.S.dollars) in aid to foreign countries, including 106.2 billion yuan in grants, 76.54 billion yuan in interest-free loans and 73.55 billion yuan in concessional loans.
The recipients of China's foreign aid are mostly low-income developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Oceania and Eastern Europe, with Asia and Africa accounting for 80 percent of the total figure, the white paper says.
The aid funds are mainly geared toward agriculture, industry, economic infrastructure, public facilities, education and medical and health care, the paper says.
As one of the first countries to develop clean energy sources, China has also helped other developing countries to better utilize resources to reduce their dependence on imported fuels, according to the white paper.
China's foreign aid expenditure is part of the state expenditure, under the unified management of the Ministry of Finance in its budgets and final accounts system, according to the white paper.
The Ministry of Commerce is the administrative department authorized by the State Council to oversee foreign aid, it says.
