Chinese Government provides grant funding for National Stadium Construction Project (Linked to Record ID#71118)

Project narrative

On August 20, 2018, the Government of El Salvador announced that it was severing diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (‘Taiwan’) and establishing diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic of China (‘China’). Then, on September 20, 2019, the Chinese Government and the Government of El Salvador signed and Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), which committed RMB 400 million ($62.24 million) of grant funding for multiple projects (including the National Library Construction Project, the Surfcity Potable Water, Roads, and Parks Project and the Lake Ilopango Water Treatment Plant Project). Approximately two months later, on December 3, 2019, during an official visit of President Xi Jinping to El Salvador, the Chinese Government and the Government of El Salvador signed another ETCA (see Record ID#71118), which committed an additional $500 million for multiple projects (including the National Library Construction Project, the Surfcity Potable Water, Roads, and Parks Project, the Lake Ilopango Water Treatment Plant Project, the Port of La Libertad Pier Expansion and Restoration Project, the Joya de Cerén Archaeological Site Restoration Project, and the National Stadium Construction Project). On the same day, the President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele stated that the construction of the National Stadium would cost more than $100 million and it would seat 50,000 people. He said that his estimation of the cost of the project was based on the size of the Chinese Government’s grant commitment for the construction of the 35,000 seat national stadium in Costa Rica (captured via Record ID#37266). Then, in April 2020, 61 of the 84 deputies in El Salvador’s legislative assembly requested (through a vote) that the President of El Salvador redirect/reallocate grant funding from the Chinese Government for the construction of the National Stadium and other works. Approximately 13 months later, in May 2021, El Salvador’s legislative assembly ratified the September 20, 2019 ETCA. Then, on December 30, 2021, President Nayib Bukele announced that construction of the stadium would commence in 2022, and it would be built in the municipality of Antiguo Cuscatlán, La Libertdad department, on a plot of land where the ‘Captain General Gerardo Barrios’ Military School currently operates. The ‘Captain General Gerardo Barrios’ Military School will reportedly be relocated to a new area that is more suitable for its operation. In January 2022, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced that China Aviation Planning and Design Institute Co., Ltd. and China Electronics Engineering Design Institute Co., Ltd won a bid to design the National Stadium Construction Project. The Chinese project design team arrived in El Salvador on February 24, 2022 and started its 40-day assignment. Their efforts resulted in a ‘consensus’ on a project implementation agreement, meeting minutes, design plans, and other documents. On April 1, 2022, the Chinese Government and the Government of El Salvador signed an agreement marking the completion of the project’s design phase. On January 30, 2023, the country's president officially laid the cornerstone for the construction of the stadium. The planned completion date is early 2027.