Tasks and Objectives
The Development, Environment and Humanitarian Aid Section contributes to the strengthening and enhancement of Sino-Swiss relations in the fields of bilateral development cooperation and humanitarian aid. It engages in partnerships with a selected number of concerned ministries, mainly with the Ministry of Commerce in charge of ODA, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in charge of all reforms and climate change, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Organisation, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Housing, Rural and Urban Development. In the development programmes, the Embassy works also with local governments, Universities, NGOs and private sector agencies from Switzerland and China as well as with other bilateral and multilateral agencies and other Swiss government departments.

We deal with the following areas in particular:

Bilateral development cooperation
Swiss bilateral development cooperation (except economic development cooperation which is under the responsibility of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, see: Economic and Commercial Section) is mainly carried out by the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development, SDC. In the last 20 years SDC supported mainly programmes in the fields of civil service training through political schools, the Kunming-Zurich partnership on urban planning and management, studies and discussions on minority rights with the Chinese Academy of Social Science. Small grant were also given to Chinese NGOs.

 SDC Homepage
 SDC - East Asia 

Climate Change Programme (including related water and food security initiatives)
Since 2008 SDC has developed a Global Programme focusing on selected global issues, i.e. climate change, water, food security and migration. The climate change programme in China has developed a system of related and complementary programmes on climate change adaptation and mitigation. The programme includes the “Adapting to Climate Change in China” (ACCC) project with NDRC and the UK, the “Low Carbon City China” (LCCC) project with a network of municipalities and the “Sino-Swiss Cooperation on Climate Change and Clean Air Legislation and Policy” programme with a focus on air pollution and black carbon vehicle emissions.

 SDC - Section Global Programme Climate Change
 ACCC

Humanitarian Aid
SDC has provided support for disaster preparedness to urban rescue teams in China and when requested, provides support after major disasters in terms of rapid response and reconstruction.