VZCZCXRO5863
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #1753/01 0740707
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 150707Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5712
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 8946

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 001753 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM 
MANILA PASS USED ADB PAUL CURRY 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON PGOV SOCI CH
SUBJECT: ADB's NGO PROJECT GETTING HIGH MARKS IN JIANGXI 
 
REF: 06 BEIJING 565 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and its Chinese Government 
partners launched the second phase of the NGO-Government 
Partnerships in Village-Level Poverty Alleviation project on January 
¶19.  The pilot project, based in Jiangxi Province, was inaugurated 
in December 2005 (see reftel).  Government and non-government actors 
in Jiangxi said that they initially faced some resistance from local 
officials, but the second phase should be easier to implement.  ADB 
Vice-President Lawrence Greenwood attended the January 19 ceremony, 
and ADB officials in Beijing are optimistic that the success of the 
pilot project to date offers an opportunity for NGOs to play a 
greater role in Chinese civil society.  END SUMMARY. 
 
TRAVEL TO JIANGXI 
----------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Econoff and Econ Assistant traveled to Jiangxi Province 
February 5-7.  Emboffs met in Nanchang, the provincial capital, with 
the Director General of the Jiangxi Poverty Alleviation and 
Development Office and with officials from a Jiangxi-based NGO that 
is involved in the ADB-supported project.  Econoff previously met in 
Beijing with officials at the ADB Resident Mission and China Fund 
for Poverty Alleviation and also attended the January 2007 and 
December 2005 forums on the project. 
 
NGO Poverty Alleviation Project Moving Forward 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶3. (U) The Asian Development Bank (ADB), Leading Group on Poverty 
Alleviation and Development (LGOP), Ministry of Finance (MOF), 
Jiangxi Poverty Alleviation and Development Office (JPADO), China 
Fund for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA), the United Kingdom Department 
for International Development (DFID), and RGM International 
co-hosted the National Interim Policy Forum on NGO-Government 
Partnerships in Village-Level Poverty Alleviation in Bijing on 
January 19.  During the event, the ADB and its partners launched the 
second round of a selection process for NGOs to receive government 
funding to carry out poverty alleviation projects in Jiangxi 
Province.  This second phase follows the successful conclusion of 
the first year of the project, which included the participation of 
five Chinese NGOs and one international NGO (Heifer Project 
International) in 22 poor villages in three counties in Jiangxi 
Province. 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to Liu Dongwen at CFPA, the Chinese Government 
will channel up to USD 1.6 million in funding through JPADO to NGOs 
to conduct poverty alleviation work in Jiangxi through late 2007. 
The ADB will provide USD 1 million in technical assistance to 
support the project. 
 
Provincial Government and NGOs Pleased with Results 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) Zhang Zhihao, Director General, JPADO, was enthusiastic 
about the project's results to date.  Zhang told Econoff that the 
project is now running smoothly despite some early obstacles, and 
the project's success proves that the government is willing to 
cooperate with NGOs to alleviate poverty.  Zhang emphasized that the 
key to the project's success is that the NGOs promote a 
participatory approach to development, asking poor farmers how they 
want to utilize available resources.  Zhang said that this approach 
challenges conventional thinking in China, resulting in some 
resistance at the local government level, but he hopes the 
participation of farmers in poverty alleviation will both promote a 
more democratic system in rural areas and improve the quality of 
Jiangxi's farmers. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Representatives from Shanjianghu, a Nanchang-based NGO 
involved in the project, agreed with Zhang that county and village 
officials resisted the project at first.  Local government officials 
were especially concerned about being replaced by NGOs as the 
primary providers of social services, they said.  The second phase 
of the project will be easier, however, because the NGOs' 
participatory approach has also co-opted local officials, who now 
are encouraging county and village officials in the new target 
locations to give the project a chance.  As NGOs become more widely 
accepted in Jiangxi, local governments will recognize that they are 
capable of work in other areas in addition to poverty alleviation, 
they added. 
 
ADB Optimistic about NGOs' Role in Development 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶7. (SBU) With a relatively small investment of USD 1 million, the 
 
BEIJING 00001753  002 OF 002 
 
 
ADB, in cooperation with DFID, has identified an area in China's 
social sector where donors can offer technical assistance.  Chris 
Spohr, a Social Sector Economist at the ADB Resident Mission in 
Beijing, told Econoff that ADB also is pleased with the results of 
the project to date.  Lawrence Greenwood, ADB's Vice President, 
attended the January 19 event, lending high-level ADB support to the 
project.  Just over one year after the project's launch, ADB 
officials are optimistic about the future role of NGOs in economic 
development.  Min Tang, ADB Deputy Country Director and Chief 
Economist, told Econoff that the Government-NGO partnerships in 
Jiangxi is the first time the Chinese Government has provided 
funding to outsource its work to NGOs, which ADB believes is a 
positive step forward for civil society in China. 
 
Comment:  Better Than We Thought? 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Reftel expressed uncertainty about the impact of the ADB's 
NGO-Government Partnerships in Village-level Poverty Alleviation on 
civil society in Jiangxi, but one year later, all project 
stakeholders (including the provincial and local governments) appear 
to agree that NGOs' contributions during the first phase were 
positive.  We note that the project's success is unexpected given 
that NGOs throughout China still are facing increased government 
scrutiny for political reasons, and some donors in the country are 
preparing to close or scale back their programs as China graduates 
from the need for foreign assistance.  As with other pilot projects 
in China, however, it is unclear if this project will be replicated 
on a national level. 
 
RANDT