Tiny Chinese projects having huge impact
With its ‘small yet smart’ concept, China is providing aid to other nations
Enduring difficulties such as intense heat, limited equipment and a language barrier, ophthalmologist Zhao Jianfeng and his colleagues managed to perform free cataract surgeries for 118 Sri Lankan patients in two days in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, in May.
Their work was part of the Brightness Action campaign, a Chinese medical assistance project launched in 2014 aimed at restoring eyesight for underprivileged patients in developing countries.
Zhao, from the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University in Yunnan province, said that many Sri Lankans have eye diseases such as cataracts due to prolonged exposure to sunlight and strong ultraviolet rays, and they lack adequate medical resources for treatment.
He explained that with the right equipment, the surgeries can be performed in minutes. The success rate is high, and the effects are immediate.
“The most rewarding moment was when we removed gauze from the patients’ eyes after treatment,” Zhao said. “I saw smiles on their faces. They gave me a thumbs-up, shook my hand and hugged me.”
Indrananda Abeysekara, a 68-year-old cataract patient and president of the Association for Sri Lanka-China Social and Cultural Cooperation, regained her eyesight after the surgery. She said that she is willing to act as an ambassador to advocate for the Brightness Action campaign in local communities.
Zhao has participated in the medical aid program six times, performing surgeries in countries such as Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.
“I was deeply touched when a lady in Myanmar thanked me for giving her a normal life again,” he said. “She said she had the opportunity to get back to work and have a social life again.”
Zeng Zhong, director of the hospital in Kunming and leader of the medical team, said that the surgeries not only aid cataract patients, but also enhance the diagnostic and treatment capabilities of local medical institutions.
The hospital has participated in the aid program eight times over the past eight years, he said.
A key public welfare project in Yunnan’s humanitarian aid efforts, the Brightness Action campaign not only demonstrates China’s willingness to help people in less-developed nations but also plays a crucial role in fostering collaboration and the exchange of medical expertise with neighboring nations, Zeng said.
It also stands as a vivid example of people-to-people diplomacy, he added.
The campaign is one of China’s many small-scale livelihood assistance projects, which are also known as “small yet smart” projects.
Such projects are more targeted in their approach and are financed by small loans. They include a juncao (mushroom grass) cultivation assistance program; a project to bring satellite TV networks to African villages; and the Luban Workshop, a vocational training program.
The concept has been a hot topic in China’s foreign aid community since President Xi Jinping said at a symposium on Belt and Road development in 2021 that such livelihood projects should be prioritized in facilitating overseas cooperation.
Luo Zhaohui, head of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, said at a news conference in October that more than 200 small yet smart projects have been implemented since 2021. It is estimated that the projects have benefited millions of people.
Luo said that the agency will aim to launch 1,000 of the projects, an idea proposed by Xi at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in October.
Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, said that unlike more high-profile projects, participants in the small ones are more diverse, as they involve government agencies, overseas Chinese companies, civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations.
Sun Tianshu, an associate researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, wrote in an article that the small yet smart projects focus on how to leverage limited funding to achieve better development and provide diplomatic and economic benefits to the people in participating countries.
While “small” indicates the low cost and a small scope of the projects, “smart” refers to the effects, such as improving livelihoods and enhancing the impact on society, she wrote.
Sun added that the success of such projects lies in being embraced by the people and recognized as an integral force in the development of their nations.
Addressing difficulties
With its geographic advantage, the southwestern province of Yunnan initiated the “Hand in Hand” program, a nonprofit initiative, in 2022 to provide aid through small yet smart projects to nations in South and Southeast Asia, including Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Over the past two years, 92 programs have been launched in 17 countries, benefiting more than 2.6 million people. The programs have provided medical assistance and safe drinking water, installed energy-saving streetlights, upgraded rural roads and offered vocational skills training.
In recent years, the Yunnan Construction and Investment Holding Group, which has been investing and operating in Laos for 26 years, has conducted 11 small-scale assistance projects in the country, including constructing basketball courts and providing water purification equipment for schools, installing streetlights for rural villages and donating books.
Zhang Youzuo, head of the company’s overseas programs in Laos, recalled his visits to remote mountain villages lacking streetlights and kindergartens with old, shabby teaching tools.
“It is difficult for villagers to go out at night, and the kindergarten can no longer meet the kids’ educational needs,” he said.
To address practical difficulties for the Lao people, the company installed 70 solar streetlights in two villages in Oudomxay province.
The company also donated equipment such as desks, chairs and bookshelves to kindergartens in a village in Oudomxay.
The projects provided timely solutions to daily challenges and improved the villagers’ living and schooling conditions, Zhang said.
“I remember when we handed over the projects, local villagers spontaneously prepared meals for us to express their gratitude. A villager from Namodai told me that thanks to the streetlights, he no longer has to walk in the dark at night.
“Receiving such feedback makes me feel proud and honored,” Zhang said, adding that 26 years of construction efforts have proved worthwhile, as local people truly appreciate the work his company has done.
Wang Yu, vice-president of the Yunnan Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, said that by taking the locals’ situations into consideration, the projects under the “Hand in Hand” program have achieved quick and tangible effects, and can be replicated and promoted to meet the needs of people in other areas.
The projects have garnered widespread popularity due to their emphasis on addressing people’s immediate concerns, she said.
They have also brought about a mutual trust between the people of Yunnan and neighboring countries, enhancing people-to-people exchanges, she added.
Sustainable help
At the end of 2022, the China-aided Nigeria Agricultural Demonstration Center, located in the country’s capital Abuja, was put into operation, aiming to scale up the African nation’s agricultural productivity and development.
The Nigerian center is the first aid project run by a Chinese enterprise after its completion, allowing Chinese investments and expertise to continue playing their roles to yield economic benefits and promote sustainable development of the country’s agriculture.
Through technology transfer, the demonstration center aims to identify projects suitable for Nigeria’s agricultural development, facilitating the transfer of China’s agricultural production capacity advantages to Nigeria, said Wang Yun, manager of the demonstration center.
Operation of the demonstration center is also expected to promote the development of the Chinese company Green Agriculture West Africa Limited, so as to better realize sustainable development of the center, said Wang, from the company, which was established in 2006 and positioned itself as a partner for China-Africa agricultural development and cooperation.
With 49 employees, nine from China and 40 from Nigeria, the company has been planting crops such as rice, maize, vegetables and mushrooms in demonstration fields, and a rice processing line has also been put into use.
Chinese experts from the company also offer training to local farmers at the center. In 2023, the center provided training to 75 local people on rice technology and peanut processing.
Chinese agritech expert Wang Xuemin said that he had taught Nigerians about modern agricultural technology in areas such as rice cultivation, seed breeding technology, soil and fertilizer sciences, agricultural machinery and pest control.
Wang Xuemin has been engaged in agricultural assistance in Nigeria for 20 years. “In 2003, when I set foot on African soil for the first time, I didn’t anticipate that I would have such a deep connection with the continent,” he said.
The backward agricultural infrastructure and technology, and lack of agricultural machinery, constrained food production in the country, Wang Xuemin said.
Dispatched as a technical expert for the China-Nigeria “South-South Cooperation” agricultural project at that time, Wang Xuemin introduced basic Chinese agricultural tools, such as threshers and huskers, to farmers in Nigeria.
Immersing himself in the local perspective, Wang Xuemin said he deeply explored the country’s agricultural environment, trying to use his professional knowledge to overcome various challenges in crop cultivation, and especially in rice technology.
After many years of research and development of seeds, in 2017, Wang and his colleagues successfully developed a high-yield rice variety, GAWALR1. Its yield is about 30 percent higher than the most popular local rice varieties.
Due to the good quality and high yield, the seeds have been widely recognized by Nigerian farmers, he said.
The variety has been promoted and cultivated for over five years, boosting rice production in Nigeria by over 2 million metric tons and benefiting at least 200,000 households, he added.
To better train local farmers, Wang wrote a nearly 70-page textbook based on his experiences over the past two decades. It is all about how to deal with practical problems, he said.
“The trainees I have instructed are scattered across various riceproducing regions in Nigeria,” he said.
Wang Xuemin said he plans to work in Africa for five to 10 more years.
“I hope to fully utilize the demonstration center to continuously innovate our agricultural technologies to adapt to the evolving local production environment,” he said.
He said he will also promote agricultural machinery in the continent, develop more high-quality varieties, and intensify training efforts to empower more local people with the necessary technical skills.
The goal is to resolve food security concerns at their source and to have a sustainable impact on the region, contribute to long-term food sufficiency and enhance the livelihoods of local communities, he said.
“Additionally, we also hope to use the platform of the demonstration center to support China’s agricultural enterprises in going global and to promote agricultural cooperation between China and Africa, said Wang Yun, the manager of the center.
The most rewarding moment was when we removed gauze from the patients’ eyes after treatment. I saw smiles on their faces. They gave me a thumbs-up, shook my hand and hugged me.” Zhao Jianfeng, an ophthalmologist who performed free cataract surgeries for Sri Lankan patients