Six measures to assist developing countries, in agriculture, food aid, education and training, health, clean energy, debt exemption, zero-tariff treatment and other fields were recently issued by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), along with departments such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Culture.

The main contents of the measures are as follows:

- Assistance in the field of agriculture. Over the next five years, China will double the number of agricultural technology demonstration centers it helps to construct for developing countries to 30, and double the number of Chinese agricultural experts and technicians dispatched to developing countries to 2,000. Meanwhile, China will offer agricultural training opportunities in China to 3,000 personnel including officials and technicians involved in fields such as agricultural management, crop-planting, fisheries and animal husbandry.

- Donating 30 million U.S. dollars to the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to establish a trust fund assisting developing countries to carry out projects and activities enhancing agricultural productivity. Since the Ministry of Agriculture signed a general agreement on a 30 million U.S. dollars trust fund with the FAO on March 24 2009 in Beijing, China has completed donation work worth 10 million U.S. dollars for 2009. The funds will mainly support "South-South Cooperation" projects under the framework of the FAO's "Special Program for Food Security," human resources training and other projects.

- Increasing grain exports and aid to countries facing food shortages. In the future, China will, within its capacity, continue to arrange grain exports and prioritize exports to developing countries facing food shortages and increase donations to the FAO. Meanwhile China will continue to provide humanitarian food aid overseas through bilateral channels, and implement cooperation projects to help recipient countries enhance grain production capacities.

- In the fields of education and health, over the next five years, China will offer 10,000 extra scholarships to students from developing countries to study in China, and specially train 1,500 principals and teachers for African countries. China will supply an appropriate number of doctors and medical equipment for 30 hospitals that it has helped build in African countries, and train 1,000 doctors, nurses and managerial personnel for recipient countries.

- Exempting outstanding interest-free loans due at the end of 2008 for the least developed countries, and offering zero-tariff treatment for 95 percent of goods from relevant least developed countries. To date, China has signed debt exemption agreements with 49 countries and exempted 374 default debts. According to this new measure, the Chinese government will continue to exempt default debts arising from interest-free loans for 13 least developed countries.

- In the clean energy development and utilization and environmentally sustainable development field, over the next five years, China will assist developing countries construct 100 small-scale clean energy projects involving small hydropower stations, solar energy and methane to support recipient countries to develop recyclable energy sources, improve production and living conditions and promote environmentally sustainable development. At present, China is formulating a plan to assist countries in the Greater Mekong sub-region construct methane-generating pits for 1,500 rural households, and will complete research and feasibility studies by the end of 2009.

By People's Daily Online