Engagement with international organizations

Financial contributions from the Chinese government to multilateral agencies working on refugee issues have increased over the last decade. On refugee relief, Chinese contributions tend to rely on multilateral channels such as the Syria Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), given the often complex nature of humanitarian emergencies affecting refugees. This is at odds with the broader trend in Chinese overseas humanitarianism. Generally, Chinese humanitarian aid for disaster relief is coordinated with affected countries rather than international organizations – for example by supporting hospitals and physical infrastructure or by sending personnel.

From 1990 and until 2009, China’s annual donation to UNHCR was $250,000 in most years,26 and since then China’s contribution to UNHCR has rapidly increased, with data and analysis documenting this increase presented by Lili Song in 2018.27 As shown in Table 1, Chinese contributions to UNHCR and UNRWA pale in comparison to those of leading donors like Japan, but they are closer to the contributions of other countries often also categorized as ‘emerging donors’, such as India. It is important to note that funding to international organizations is one metric for country engagement, but it is not fully representative of a country’s support to displaced people (India’s long-standing hosting of displaced people within its territory is discussed below). The quality and allocation of funding must also be considered for a comprehensive analysis. For example, in discussion with Chinese government partners, UNHCR has been advocating more flexible and unearmarked funding to allow for rapid responses to emergency situations.28

Table 1. Funding received by UNHCR and UNRWA ($)

UNHCR
Donor	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
China	2,817,942	11,144,039	1,232,626	1,924,229	1,765,630	5,329,982
Japan	164,726,114	152,359,773	120,024,776	126,466,093	126,332,049	140,577,508
India	14,788	0	7,705	0	0	0
UNRWA
China	300,000	350,000	2,350,000	1,000,000	3,291,904	2,040,920
Japan	44,497,635	43,373,337	44,999,224	43,438,361	33,080,021	50,510,511
India	1,250,000	1,250,000	5,000,000	5,000,000	5,000,000	5,000,000

Sources: UNHCR: Compiled by the author from UNHCR (2017), ‘Funding UNHCR’s Programmes’, in UNHCR Global Report, p. 24, https://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/gr2016/pdf/02_Funding.pdf; UNHCR (2018), ‘Contributions to UNHCR – 2017’, https://www.unhcr.org/5954c4257.pdf; UNHCR (2022), ‘Donor Ranking, 2018–21’, https://reporting.unhcr.org/donor-ranking (accessed 9 Apr. 2022). UNRWA: Compiled by the author from research interview, officials from external relations department, UNRWA, October 2021; UNRWA (2021), ‘2020 Pledges to UNRWA’s Programmes (Cash and In-kind) - Overall Donor Ranking, as 31 December 2020’, https://www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/overall_donor_ranking_0.pdf; UNRWA (2022), ‘2021 Pledges to UNRWA’s Programmes (Cash and In-kind) - Overall Donor Ranking, as 31 December 2021’, https://www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/overall_donor_ranking_2021.pdf.

Note: In 2020, from Chinese funding, $2,291,904 supported UNRWA’s COVID-19 response.

UNHCR reports that the organization has built strong partnerships with relevant Chinese government agencies and affiliated institutions.29 Meanwhile, UNRWA’s relationship with China is at an early stage; the agency has made it a priority to strengthen its relations with emerging donors.30 Both agencies identified two priorities for their strategic engagement with China: to mobilize sustained increased financial support; and to enlist political support from the Chinese government to secure aid for refugees.

Chinese government funding to UN agencies for refugee relief is administered through a variety of vehicles, including the UN Peace and Development Trust Fund (UNPDF), the SSCAF, and the newly created China International Development and Cooperation Agency (CIDCA).

At the time of writing, UNHCR is delivering emergency assistance, agreed with the CIDCA in late 2020, to provide COVID-19-related personal protective equipment (PPE) to refugees and host communities in Kenya, South Sudan and Tanzania. UNHCR also began work on a CIDCA-funded project to provide emergency shelter, relief items and education support in Afghanistan in 2021.32 Through the SSCAF, UNHCR implemented six projects from 2017 to 2019 in Angola, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe. These projects contributed to UNHCR’s humanitarian assistance programmes including food, shelter, registration, education, health, and water and sanitation.33

Over the past four years, China has supported UNRWA’s emergency food assistance activities in Gaza. More recently in 2020, China provided an in-kind contribution of COVID-19 response supplies, which had an immediate impact on UNRWA’s ability to respond to the pandemic,34 and was referenced by the State Council as an example of China’s partaking in easing refugee crises. For the complete list of Chinese government funding to UN agencies that provide refugee relief (from 2012 to 2021), please refer to Annex 1.

Liang, S. Y. (2009), 国际难民法 [International Refugee Law], Beijing, Intellectual Property Publishing House, p. 254, footnote 1, as cited in, Song, L. (2018), ‘China and the International Refugee Protection Regime: Past, Present, and Potentials’, Refugee Survey Quarterly, 37(2), pp. 139–61, https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdy003.

Song (2018), ‘China and the International Refugee Protection Regime’.

Research interview, officials from UNHCR representative office in China, August 2021.

Global Times (2020), ‘China Responsible and Supportive on Refugee Issues: UNHCR Representative’, 16 September 2020, https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1201128.shtml.

Research interview, officials from external relations Department, UNRWA, October 2021.

China International Development Cooperation Agency (2021), ‘对外援助管理办法 [Foreign aid management measures]’, http://www.cidca.gov.cn/2021-08/31/c_1211351312.htm.

Research interview, officials from UNHCR representative office in China, August 2021.

Ibid.

Research interview, officials from external relations department, UNRWA, October 2021.

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China’s overseas humanitarian action to assist refugees

Emily Venturi

Engagement with international organizations

Table 1. Funding received by UNHCR and UNRWA ($)

Box 2. Restructuring China’s foreign aid institutions