Completed Development AidData Chinese Aid

China sponsors the establishment of Luban Workshop in Cote d’Ivoire

Funder	Unspecified Chinese Government Institution
Recipient Organization	The Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INP-HB)
Country	Cote d'Ivoire
Start Date	Sep 01, 2018
End Date	Dec 09, 2032
Duration	5,213 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`87805`

Grant Description

At the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in early September 2018, China pledged to establish 10 Luban workshops in Africa to teach vocational skills to youth people, one of which will be established in Cote d’Ivoire.

On September 27, 2019, Wan Li, Chinese Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire, met with Zheng Qingchun, Vice President of Tianjin University of Technology, who came to Cote d'Ivoire for inspection, and exchanged views on the establishment of Luban Workshop at the Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (亚穆苏克罗国立博瓦尼理工学院).

Tianjin University of Technology will corporate with Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny in the construction of the workshop. On December 9, 2020, the unveiling ceremony of the Luban Workshop was held online. It covers an area of 805 sqr meters.

It has a large equipment workshop (training venue), 3 laboratories, 3 experimental teaching and learning classrooms, 1 teaching and research room, and is equipped with 11 sets of 5 types of large-scale equipment, and 87 sets of 16 types of small instruments and equipment, as well as auxiliary teaching equipment such as experimental benches and projectors.

The Cote d'Ivoire Luban workshop became the fourth Luban workshop to be unveiled in Africa within half a month.

📋 Staff Comments

1. Luban Workshop (鲁班工坊) is a technical assistance program started by Tianjin's Vocational Institute in BRI countries. While it is an important Chinese foreign policy objective, the workshop is not funded through a specific fund or a government entity. Instead, it is heavily dependent on each project. While the Chinese government may directly fund some projects, Chinese SOEs or the specific vocational schools in Tianjin may fund others. As a result, AidData assumes an unspecified Chinese government agency has funded the project. For more information, please consult: https://www.tj.gov.cn/zwgk/szfwj/tjsrmzfbgt/202005/t20200519_2370529.html?itid=lk_inline_enhanced-template and http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xwfb/s5147/202112/t20211202_584025.html

📚 Sources & References

驻科特迪瓦大使万黎会见天津理工大学副校长郑清春
Luban Workshops continue mission to train African youth
Luban Workshops continue mission to train African youth
科特迪瓦鲁班工坊揭牌系半个月内非洲第四座
驻科特迪瓦大使万黎会见天津理工大学副校长郑清春
Winning friends by training workers is China’s new gambit
China is educating engineers around the world
Luban Workshop——China’s vocational education going global
Luban Workshop 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.