Chinese Government provides $21.4 million grant — via ETCA — for 2023 Pacific Games Village Project (Linked to Record ID#65020)

On September 16, 2019, the Government of the Solomon Islands announced that it was severing diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (‘Taiwan’) and establishing diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic of China (‘China’).

In June 2021, the Government of the Solomon Islands and the Government of the People’s Republic of China agreed to undertake a feasibility study for the 2023 Pacific Games Village Project. China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) subsequently committed $21.4 million of grant funding for the project.

Then, on October 14 2021, the Government of the Solomon Islands and the Government of the People’s Republic of China signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), which committed an unknown amount of grant funding for an unspecified set of projects.

The purpose of the project is to construct a ‘village’ for the 2023 Pacific Games on the Kukum Campus of Solomon Islands National University (SINU). The construction site covers 10,183 square meters.

The village will consist of three dormitories, four floors high, which will provide 216 rooms with the capacity to accommodate 924 athletes during the 2023 Pacific Games. After the 2023 Pacific Games, the village will serve as the dormitory for SINU students. The Chinese side will provide all of the furniture and sanitary facilities for the village.

The scope of the project also includes a student activity hall with an equipment storage room next to the dormitories. Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group is the contractor responsible for project implementation. A project implementation agreement signed on November 12, 2021.

Then, on December 30, 2021, the Bureau of International Economic Cooperation of China’s Ministry of Commerce awarded a contract to Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 21, 2022. Construction then began in July 2022. The project was completed and handed over to the local authorities on October 25, 2023.