What is the fund?

The People's Republic of China (PRC) Regional Cooperation and Poverty Reduction Fund was established in 25 March 2005 to promote regional cooperation as a core component of the agenda to reduce poverty among the developing member countries (DMCs) of ADB.

What are the priorities?

The objective of the Fund is to strengthen the capacity of DMCs to reduce poverty through, among others, regional cooperation. The PRC Fund is intended to help advance ADB's regional cooperation initiatives to:

• accelerate economic growth
• spur private sector development
• promote peace and order
• provide regional public goods that address joint constraints and opportunities, e.g. communicable diseases and environmental degradation

What kind of activities will be financed from the fund?

The fund will encourage innovation and learning. It will support:

• research and analytical work
• piloting of innovative approaches
• capacity building and institutional development in DMCs
• dissemination, networking and cross-learning (e.g., workshops, conferences, publications, and website development)

The fund will finance TA operations and any other activities which may be agreed upon between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and ADB.

Who is eligible to receive the grant?

For the regional cooperation component, while all DMCs will be eligible, priority will be given to countries that are part of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC).

Who supports the fund?

The People's Republic of China supports this fund.