China

Three Gorges Project Summary:

Known to many environmentalists as "the Mother of All Dams," the Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest hydroelectric project, the largest public works project since the Great Wall, and the world's most environmentally and socially destructive infrastructure project. Still under construction, it will be 600 feet (abt. 185 m) high, create a 1-mile (abt. 2 km) wide, 400-mile (abt. 600 km) long reservoir on the Yangtze, the world's third-longest river, inundating hundreds of villages and displacing almost 2 million people by the time it’s completed in 2009. Despite rising international opposition to the project, the Chinese government has been adamant in moving it forward, as a symbol of China's development and “superior organizing.” The Chinese government remains fixed on hydroelectric gigantism despite its continuing misery from past ill-fated hydro projects. The Three Gorges Dam will cost at least USD $24B (though unofficial estimates cite figures upwards of USD $72B). But the destruction caused by the dam would be equally massive: 1.8 million people would lose their homes and livelihoods, fertile agricultural lands would be destroyed, and important cultural and historical sites would be forever lost under an immense inland sea. The main dam is scheduled to be completed in the year 2009. Three Gorges was made possible through financing from Export Credit Agencies.

Human Rights Dammed Off at Three Gorges: An investigation of resettlement and human rights problems in the Three Gorges dam project [PDF] January 2003 by IRN, WEED, Berne Declaration, Halifax Initiative, Urgewald

A Project Case Study on China's Three Gorges Dam 1999 by ECA Watch campaign members- from the report "A Race to the Bottom: Creating Risk, Generating Debt and  Guaranteeing Environmental Destruction."

Who's behind China's Three Gorges Dam 2000 by Probe International

Trio of Nations Supports Three Gorges Dam 2001 by Patrick McCully, World Rivers Review

German Export-Import Bank to Lend for Three Gorges Dam 1996 by Juliette Majot, World Rivers Review

Dams and Cultural Heritage Management [PDF] August 2000 by Steven A. Brandt (University of Florida) - a working paper prepared for the World Commission on Dams. See page 52 for the section on the Three Gorges Dam.

More useful links:

• The World Commission on Dams

• Three Gorges Probe (English and Chinese)

• Three Gorges Dam Campaign by International Rivers Network

• Rivers Watch East and SouthEast Asia

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News 2006:

Chinese export credits and environmental impacts October 30, 2006
G7 to discourage China from unproductive, expensive debt September 15, 2006
Ex-Im Bank of China to Offer Loans to Taiwanese Businesses August 30, 2006
Changing markets for ECAs: China, private sector ECAs June 2006
China's controversial ECA backed Three Gorges dam comes onstream May 12, 2006
Shanghai Cooperation Organization June 16, 2006
Chinese ECA to fund Mozambique dam April 28, 2006
Nigerian oil rights exchange for Chinese investment & export credits April 26, 2006
Sinosure to outfinance US Ex-Im Bank by 10 times by 2010 April 22, 2006
Sinosure and Chinese export credits March 9, 2006

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News 2004-2005:

Chinese ECA faces bad debts, poor risk assessments December 9, 2005
China offers US$900 M export credits to SCO October 27, 2006
Chinese ECA acquires U.S. bicycle manufacturer September 26, 2005
EU and China Partnership on Climate Change includes ECAs September 5, 2005

Banks supporting Chinese ECA risk indirect contravention of standards August 9, 2005

Cloud of Concern Surrounds China's Nuclear Boom June 6, 2005

Banks Advised Not to Sell Environmentally Damaging China Bonds - July 19, 2004, Sources:International Rivers Network & Friends of the Earth. Two financial institutions in China are trying to raise USD $2B through international bond issues. The institutions have a track record of financing destructive dam projects such as the Three Gorges Dam in China and around the world. International Rivers Network and Friends of the Earth have called on private banks not to participate in these bond issues. Read also an IRN background document with project case studies (PDF).

Russian ECA Puts $1 Billion USD into Asian Nukes - July 16, 2004, Source: Ecodefense. The Russian Cabinet of Ministers has approved several export credits, with a total amount of nearly USD $1B, for construction of new nuclear reactors abroad. The largest credit will be issued for China : USD $401M in 2004 and USD $68M in 2005.

1,500-Mile Oil Pipeline Fading Fast For China: Japan Offers Russia An Alternate Route - April 5, 2004, Washington Post. The Japanese ECA JBIC has offered USD $6B to finance a pipeline from Siberia to the Sea of Japan; China's hopes fade for a Siberian pipeline to the northern city of Daqing. Beijing stills says it will need to import up to 600 million tons of oil a year by 2020, more than triple its anticipated domestic production.

Deals Without Tenders Between China and Romania - February 23, 2004, Balkan Reconstruction Report. Critics claim that the Romanian government backed two projects without undergoing proper tender processes, one of which will be ensured by China Road & Bridge Corp. through loans from Eximbank China, China Development Bank, and Sinosure, China's official export credit insurance agency. This comes on the heels of the Romanian government's controversial December 2003 decision to award the San Francisco based construction giant, Bechtel, a USD $2.5B contract to build a four-lane, 415 kilometer motorway from the city of Brasov to Oradea. Opponents to the Bechtel contract stated that the contract process was politically motivated and violates an agreement with the EU on public acquisitions. Top ten banks announced interest in the Bechtel project, which will receive some loan guarantees from US Exim Bank.

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