China is one of the largest recipients of IFAD assistance. Since the approval of its first loan in 1981, IFAD has financed 27 agriculture and rural development projects and programmes within the country, representing a total cost of US$1.94 billion. IFAD's financial contribution amounts to approximately US$775 million. The country programme is managed by a Rome-based country programme manager, and by the IFAD country office established in Beijing in 2005.
This is the first country programme evaluation (CPE) and covers the period 1999-2013. IFAD's operations during this period were guided by three country strategic opportunities programmes (COSOPs), which were approved in 2001, 2005 and 2011, respectively. During the evaluation period, the Executive Board approved loans for 13 projects, totalling approximately US$434 million and representing approximately 40.5 per cent of all project costs.
The projects, in general, support integrated rural development in remote areas and in resource-constrained regions, and have been executed by subnational governments. From 1999 to 2005, most projects were cofinanced by the World Food Programme (WFP) and included rural finance and infrastructure, as well as health and education in rural areas. Since then, operations have focused largely on agricultural production and marketing in addition to rural infrastructure development.