Chinese Government provides $105 million grant for National Football Stadium Construction Project

In October 2007, the Chinese Government agreed to provide an $83 million grant to the Government of Costa Rica for the projected cost of construction of a new national football stadium (Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica).

Several Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreements (ETCAs) were subsequently signed by the two governments, committing supplemental grant funding for the same project. The cost of the stadium eventually rose to $105 million, and the Chinese Government covered the entire cost.

The purpose of the project was to construct a new National Stadium in San Jose (exact locational coordinates: 9.936389, -84.107778) that would replace the original National Stadium, which is the home stadium of the Costa Rica national football team.

The new National Stadium seats 35,000 people and it includes a high-definition 160-square-metre (1,700 sq ft) screen, located in the southern section of the stadium, along with a smaller monochromatic screen, and another monochromatic screen of the same dimensions in the northern section. Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Group (AFECC) was the contractor responsible for implementation.

Demolition of the old National Stadium began on May 12, 2008. Then, a foundation stone laying ceremony took place on March 12, 2009. Construction ended on October 31, 2010. Then, the project passed the inspection and acceptance by both parties on January 4, 2011. An inauguration ceremony for the new stadium took place on March 26, 2011.

The project was originally expected to reach completion within 23 months (July 12, 2011). The stadium maintenance period commenced on February 12, 2011 and ended on February 12, 2012.

Then, in December 2018, the Chinese Government provided an RMB 75,832,900 grant (approximately $11 million dollars) for the purpose of renovating the security and fire systems of the National Stadium (as captured via Record ID#54674).