Catalog

	Table of Contents
p. 49 of 95 BACK | NEXT Message from the Chairman of the Board of Directors Members, Capital Stock and Voting Power The Record Abbreviations 2004 in Review: Board of Directors' Report Special Theme: The Changing Face of the Microfinance Industry: Building Financial Systems for the Poor Part 1: Institutional Effectiveness Part 2: Poverty Reduction Strategic Priorities Thematic Priorities Regional Perspectives East and Central Asia Azerbaijan China, People’s Republic of Kazakhstan Kyrgyz Republic Mongolia Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Mekong The Pacific South Asia Southeast Asia Part 3: Financial Statements: Management's Discussion and Analysis

Annual Report 2004 : Part 2: Poverty Reduction : East and Central Asia

---

People’s Republic of China

Strategy and Policy Dialogue. ADB’s strategy in the PRC is to support the government’s development to maintain steady and equitable growth and improve the living conditions of its population. In 2004, ADB worked with the government to strengthen ADB's effectiveness and relevance particularly in (i) reducing project preparation time, (ii) exploring new areas for operations, and (iii) improving the effectiveness of advisory technical assistance. A joint task force identified ways to streamline project processing. Dialogue with the government identified innovative lending approaches and explored new areas for future loans including agriculture and rural development, energy conservation, financial sector reform, and social development. The government and ADB agreed to develop a sharper focus for advisory technical assistance, to allocate more of these funds to strategically important areas, to provide more training to executing agencies, to set up a quarterly operational review system, and to establish an annual award for advisory technical assistance projects.

Policy studies were done on the impacts of global oil price hikes, establishing a rural minimum living standard support system, promoting underdeveloped sectors during the macroeconomic control period, strengthening agroprocessing growth and credit guarantees to rural households, and formulating development strategies for Hebei Province. In financial reform, policy dialogue focused on social security, banking reform, and rural finance. While continuing support for social security reforms, ADB also assisted the National Development and Reform Commission with a performance evaluation system for state-owned enterprises and the China Banking Regulatory Committee with foreign bank rating and risk management. Three new technical assistance projects in 2004 addressed establishing a comprehensive statistical reporting system for commercial banks, improving rural financial services in Guizhou Province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region through policy and institutional support and capacity building, and formulating agriculture taxation systems.

ADB continued to provide assistance on economic legislation, honoring the commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), developing the rule of law, and formulating policies and laws on competition. ADB provided technical assistance for (i) training senior judges in WTO rules; (ii) reviewing and planning for the development of the legal and judicial system; and (iii) finalizing the draft of the bankruptcy law. A new technical assistance project to develop the legal and regulatory framework of a policy on competition was also approved.

The partnership between the PRC and ADB in supporting development and poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific strengthened in 2004. The PRC became a first-time donor to the ADF with a contribution of $30 million (2005–2008). In May 2004, the government also announced a $20 million grant to establish a PRC poverty reduction and regional cooperation fund (2005–2009) at ADB.

Loans and Technical Assistance. ADB approved seven loans totaling $1.3 billion. These included a soil conservation and rural development project in Fujian Province; a coal mine methane development project in Shanxi Province; an environmental improvement project in Liaoning; three road projects in Hunan, Guangxi, and Gansu provinces; and a railway project connecting Dali and Lijiang in Yunnan. Thirty-two technical assistance activities were approved totaling $16.7 million.

Back Azerbaijan	Next Kazakhstan