Chinese Government provides RMB 29.6 million interest-free loan for Ha‘apai High School Construction Project (Linked to Project ID#65773, #85621)

In 2000, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) reportedly provided RMB 36,400,000 (T$9,578,947.36) of funding for the Ha‘apai High School Construction Project. 81.4% of the project cost (RMB 29,629,600 or T$7,800,000) was financed with an interest-free loan (with a 20-year maturity) from the Chinese Government and 18.6% of the project cost (RMB 6,770,400) or T$1,778,947.36) was financed with a grant from the Chinese Government. The loan is captured in Project ID#65772 and the grant is captured in Project ID#85621. The purpose of the project was to construct a 6,125 square meter (22,050 square feet) new high school (Ha‘apai High School) in the village of Pangai on the island of Ha’apai with the following features: 16 normal classrooms, 12 specialized classrooms for Home Economics, Industrial Arts, Science and Computer subjects, a staff a staff room, offices of the Principal, Deputy Principal and administrative staff, a school hall, 12 staff quarters, 21 cement water tanks, 1 football field, and 2 basketball courts. The school was also equipped (with grant funding) with desks and chairs, audio-visual facilities and sports equipment. Tianjin Construction Engineering Group (also known as Tianjin Construction Engineering Group Corporation) was the contractor responsible for the construction of the school. Local sub-contractors were responsible for the fencing, the water tanks and the roadwork. Construction commenced on October 10, 2000. Then, a formal groundbreaking ceremony took place on August 16, 2000. The school was officially opened on December 18, 2001 by His Majesty King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV.

Additional details

This project is also known as the Ha'apai High School Project. The Tongan project title is Ngaue Langa 'oe Ako Ma'olunga 'a Ha'apai. On July 5, 2016, the Chinese Government agreed (at least in principle) to write off the remaining balance of the loan for this project (see Project ID#65773). The debt forgiveness agreement was finalized no later than December 2018. One official source (http://www.finance.gov.to/sites/default/files/2020-09/Budget%20Statement%202009-2010.pdf) suggests that the year in which the loan was contracted was 1998. However, several other sources suggest that the loan did not go into effect until 2000. For the time being, AidData has coded the commitment year as 2000 and checked the commitment year uncertain flag. Some official sources refer to the lender as China Development Bank or Bank of China. However, given that the loan that supported this project was an interest-free loan, the lender is almost certainly China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). Note that MOFCOM often uses bank accounts managed by China Development Bank or Bank of China to make interest-free loan disbursements to its borrowers.

Number of official sources

8

Number of total sources

13