Chinese Government provides $54 million grant for National Library Construction Project (Linked to Project ID#71118)

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 Project 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). The Chinese Government and the Government of El Salvador also signed an exchange of notes (‘canje de notas’) on the National Library Construction Project on December 3, 2019. Then, in May 2021, El Salvador’s legislative assembly ratified the September 20, 2019 ETCA. On February 3, 2022, the President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele announced that the National Library Construction Project woudl be ‘fully paid for by the government of the People's Republic of China, there will be no compensation from the Salvadoran government’ and that the project would cost $54 million. He also noted that the new National Library — officially known as the The Francisco Gavidia National Library (BINAES) — would house the Documentary Heritage through the General Archive of the Nation (AGN); have several additional areas, such as play areas for children, an auditorium for more than 350 people, a restaurant, areas for researchers, a terrace, a braille room, and a projection room for 200 people with the latest technology. China Central South Architectural Design Institute Co., Ltd. (CSADI) is responsible for the design of the project and Yanjian Group Co., Ltd. is responsible for the implementation of the project. The total construction area exceeds 23,764 square meters, of which 19,498.49 square meters correspond to the total above-ground construction area, and a total underground construction area of 4,261.01 square meters. President Bukele has emphasized that the facilities of the new National Library will be available to Salvadorans 24 hours a day, as a complement to their professional training. The new library will replace the old library, which was built in the 1960s to house a bank and never had the necessary infrastructure to house the national archives. On April 8, 2021, the El Salvador Ministry of Culture reported that the contents of the old library were moved to a temporary location so that construction work on the new building could commence. At that time, construction was expected to take about two years to complete. Then, on December 21, 2021, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly passed special provisions in order to speed up the construction of the National Library. Roughly six weeks later, on February 3, 2022, a groundbreaking ceremony took place, marking the beginning of construction of the new library. Chinese Ambassador Ou Jianhong and President Bukele attended the ceremony and delivered speeches. Then, on March 22, 2022, the Chinese Ambassador conducted an on-site project inspection.

Additional details

1. The September 20, 2019 ETCA (grant agreement) can be accessed in its entirety via https://www.dropbox.com/s/qnkll6xiq2b650b/E1xG-25XIAMobM6.jpeg?dl=0. 2. The Chinese project title is 萨尔瓦多国家图书馆项目 or 援萨尔瓦多国家图书馆项目. The Spanish project title is El proyecto de la Biblioteca Nacional, Asistencia de la Biblioteca Nacional de El Salvador, and La Construcción de la Biblioteca Nacional de El Salvador (BINAES) or El Proyecto Construcción y Equipamiento de la Nueva Biblioteca Nacional de El Salvador Francisco Gavidia y del Archivo General de la Nación. 3. On January 18, 2022, Yanjian Group and the Shandong Branch of China Development Bank signed a special loan contract for the National Library Construction Project in El Salvador (see https://www.dropbox.com/s/xhhfdtez85n2bhf/%E9%9B%86%E5%9B%A2%E5%85%AC%E5%8F%B8%E4%B8%8E%E5%9B%BD%E5%AE%B6%E5%BC%80%E5%8F%91%E9%93%B6%E8%A1%8C%E5%B1%B1%E4%B8%9C%E7%9C%81%E5%88%86%E8%A1%8C%E7%AD%BE%E8%AE%A2%E6%8F%B4%E5%A4%96%E4%B8%93%E9%A1%B9%E8%B4%B7%E6%AC%BE%E5%90%88%E5%90%8C_%E7%83%9F%E5%BB%BA%E9%9B%86%E5%9B%A2.pdf?dl=0). The face value and borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. Nor is it known how the CDB loan relates to the MOFCOM grant for the same project. This issue warrants further investigation. 4. For the other projects agreed to on December 3, 2019 under an ETCA, see umbrella Project ID#71118.

Number of official sources

19

Number of total sources

35