Active Development AidData Chinese Aid

Chinese government provides 10 million RMB grant through August 2003 ETCA (Linked to Record ID#37812, #39424, and #87913)

¥10M RMB

Funder	China Ministry of Commerce
Recipient Organization	Government of Ecuador
Country	Ecuador
Start Date	Aug 26, 2003
End Date	Feb 24, 2031
Duration	10,044 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`35773`

Grant Description

On August 26, 2003, representatives of the governments of China and Ecuador signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) during a visit of the President of Ecuador to China, which provided a 10 million RMB grant (see comments for reasoning regarding the transaction amount).

In Letters of Exchange signed on August 16, 2004, the two governments agreed to use at least 9.65 million RMB of the grant to help fund a grant of sports equipment to primary and secondary schools, captured in Record ID#37812.

In total, the portion of the sports equipment project funded by this grant was worth 39.23 million RMB, which was additionally funded by the ETCA signed March 20, 2002 (see Record ID#39424) and Letters of Exchange signed November 28, 2002 (see Record ID#87913).

Adding the available amounts provided in these agreements (25 million and 4.58 million RMB respectively) to the 10 million RMB from this ETCA results in a total of 39.58 million RMB.

This is 350,000 RMB above the amount that went to the sports equipment project (39.58 million - 39.23 million = 350,000), indicating 350,000 RMB of either this grant, or one of the other two grants that funded this 39.23 million, was used for (an) additional subproject(s). Therefore, between 9.65 million RMB and 10 million RMB of this ETCA grant was used for the sports equipment project.

📋 Staff Comments

While media reports list this as a loan, it is more likely a grant due to the August 16, 2004 Letters of Exchange, in which a grant from August 26, 2003 is referenced as a source of funds for the sports equipment project (see #37812). It is possible that two lines of credit were provided on August 28, 2003, and another grant was provided on August 26, 2003 (that is, three total ETCAs signed on President Gutiérrez' trip to China). However, given there are no official sources that confirm the existence of a second loan/credit line, it is assumed that the grant described in the August 2004 Letters of Exchange is the same as the financial flow described in the media reports linked as sources on this project.It is estimated that this grant was worth 10 million RMB for the following reasons: (1) ETCAs typically provide even amounts (i.e. 10 million, 20 million, 25 million RMB). (2) The other ETCA signed at the same time, for which a copy of the original text of the agreement is available (see project #35733), is listed as having a value of 2.5 million USD. Its value in RMB is 20 million. Using this, or the historic exchange rate (1:8.28), the value of this ETCA is around 8 million RMB. (3) 39.23 million RMB of the sports equipment project captured in 37812 is accounted for by a March 2002 ETCA (see project #39424), this grant, and a grant from Letters of Exchange signed in November 2002 (see project #87913). The November 2002 Letters of Exchange granted 5 million RMB, with 420,000 RMB going towards other projects for a total of 4.58 million available RMB. The March 2002 ETCA granted 25 million RMB. This indicates that the value of this grant must be at least 9.65 million RMB in order for these three agreements to total 39.23 million RMB. 4.58 million + 25 million + 9.65 million = 39.23 million RMB. Given all of this, it is likely that the ETCA granted 10 million RMB.This ETCA is coded separately as an umbrella project because it is unclear which of the three agreements that fund the 39.23 million RMB of the sports equipment project captured in 37812 funded an additional subproject. 4.58 million + 25 million + 10 million = 39.58 million RMB. 39.58 million - 39.23 million = 350,000 RMB. This means either this grant, the May 2002 ETCA, or the November 2002 Letters of Exchange funded (an) additional subproject(s) unaccounted for in this database worth 350,000 RMB.

📚 Sources & References

Ecuador receives two loans from China for development projects
China ofreció a Gutiérrez 3,5 millones de dólares para planes de desarrollo, 2005 Registero Oficial
厄瓜多尔向中国投资者招手（专访）
温家宝总理会见厄瓜多尔总统古铁雷斯 Loan applications and disbursements are still being received and processed as the projects continue to evolve. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation are in place to ensure project continuity.