China’s international education aid to Cambodia in the 2010’s: Situation analysis and trends

Abstract

Since 2004, China has contributed an increasing amount of annual financial aid to Cambodia, especially from 2010 to 2012. Cambodia’s increasing budget shortages in education from 2014 to 2018 motivated its government to seek development aid from abroad. In the context of the ongoing rise in China's overall budget aid to Cambodia, this research studied the circumstances of this educational aid, discerning trends from 2010 to 2019, and evaluating China’s position. Data was gathered using descriptive mixed methods, with statistical data gathered from the Cambodia Official Development Assistance (ODA) Database as well as relevant documents.

Results were that 1) China was among the five countries with the overall highest number of development assistance projects in Cambodia (others included Japan, South Korea, the US, and Canada). China was the largest financial contributor with the most concessional loans, with the likelihood of offering further grants by the late 2010s; 2) China provided little aid to education when compared to that provided for other sectors and compared to other aid providers. However, China did provide aid for education when combined with the facilities sectors they invested in.Notably, most Chinese educational aid programs were not recorded in the Cambodia ODA Database; though these amounts did not vary much from those of Japan and  South Korea.