Chinese Government provides NZ $14.58 million grant for Apii Nikao School Construction Project

Project narrative

Following the destruction of part of Avatea Primary School in 2014 due to an arson attack, the Cook Islands Government decided to merge Avatea with the nearby Nikao Maori School to form a new institution: Apii Nikao. The Apii Nikao School Rebuild Committee approved the demolition of the two old school campuses in late 2014. This decision was made in light of early indications from Chinese officials expressing strong support for a reconstruction project aligned with the Cook Islands’ August 50th anniversary celebrations. On April 22, 2015, a project design scheme created by China Urban Construction Design & Research Institute was approved. This was followed by the signing of letters of exchange between the Chinese and Cook Islands governments on October 27, 2015, formalizing a NZ $14.58 million grant commitment for the construction of the new school. A project implementation agreement was signed on June 22, 2016. China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) was selected as the main contractor, with China Railway Fifth Survey and Design Institute Group Co. Ltd. supervising the works. Local contractors, Landholding Ltd and Prestige Furnishings Ltd, were brought in to build the school’s perimeter fence and furnish classrooms, respectively. Construction officially began on May 23, 2017, following a groundbreaking ceremony on May 12, 2017. The project culminated with an opening ceremony on May 4, 2018. The school was built on a 25,000 square meter site and includes over 5,000 square meters of constructed area. It features three large classroom blocks with flexible learning spaces, breakout rooms, and facilities that support New Zealand-style innovative learning models. In total, the school accommodates over 440 students and 30 teaching staff across preschool, primary, secondary, and vocational education levels—making it the largest and most modern school complex in the Cook Islands. To promote environmental sustainability, the school’s infrastructure includes solar-powered electricity, rainwater collection tanks, and reinforced fencing for climate resilience. Prime Minister Henry Puna described the project as a model of environmentally sensitive development and praised the level of collaboration between the Chinese and Cook Islands teams. Locally, the school is affectionately known as the “Ni Hao” School due to the phonetic similarity of its name, “Apii Nikao,” to the Mandarin greeting. The name symbolizes the deepening friendship between the Cook Islands and China. The Chinese Embassy in New Zealand and the Chinese Symphony Orchestra have also supported cultural outreach to the school, including performances that introduced local students to Chinese music and arts. The successful delivery of the school in just eight months was hailed by Prime Minister Puna as a “miracle,” and the project remains a cornerstone of China’s development cooperation in the South Pacific.