Management of China-Zanzibar Cooperation Project: Lessons Learned

Abstract

China-Zanzibar cooperation project was the first international public health project that China sent batches of experts and worked in local field. This was the first exploration for such kind and worth looking backward and summarizing the lessons learned.

14.1 The Implementation and Management Principles

Faced with a completely different situations in Zanzibar as it was in China, the project was challenged in many aspects like languages, culture, politics, habits, etc. Based on the various problems solved, we summarized three principles the project was managed according to.

14.1.1 Comply with Local and International Rules to the Maximum Level in the Project Planning and Execution

For instance, the Chinese produced molluscicides and the praziquantel were all certified and registered by Zanzibar Food and Drugs Board. These provided legitimacy for their use in the local areas, as well as field data and application experiences for the WHO PQ certification in the future.

14.1.2 Meet the Local Needs in all Aspects of the Project

As a field-based project, the first task of the expert team was to investigate the local needs. Many problems were discovered in the investigation, such as the lack of financial funds, the single control strategy of MDA, the dependence on foreign aid, the lack of cross-sectional cooperation, the lack of disease control facilities and schistosomiasis relevant knowledges in local community, the lack of disease control skills in the local health workers, etc. The project designed a comprehensive strategic package to control schistosomiasis in Zanzibar and explored ecological snail control strategies. For instance, raising ducks were found to have definite effects on inhibiting Bulinus particularly in the aspects of reproduction. Water supply project brought benefit to at least 2500 local residents, improved their health behaviors and would finally reduce the incidence of parasitic diseases including schistosomiasis (Figs. 14.1 and 14.2).

Fig. 14.1

Ducks raised in Zanzibar for snail control

Fig. 14.2

Water supply project launching ceremony in Zanzibar

14.1.3 Fuse the Merits of Chinese Experiences with the Local Situations in the Execution of the Project

With 70-year schistosomiasis control experiences, the Chinese expert team created a brand-new model of schistosomiasis control strategy package in Zanzibar. For MDA, the Chinese made praziquantels were given to schistosomiasis patients and pills were taken immediately with the health workers stood by. Data were collected and all patients were followed up to evaluate the efficacy of MDA. These experiences were used to maximally prevent the patients avoiding taking the pills, which was quite common before. Snail control was given the same importance as MDA in the strategy package, which was proved to be effective in China. Molluscicides produced in China were put into use and all procedure were standardized to control the quality. All infected snails were killed in the 3 years of project execution. Innovated health education tools derived from successful Chinese experiences were created. Demonstration area board, wall slogans, warning signs for risk areas, automatic voice warning devices, most of which were in Swahili, were put into use. Schistosomiasis control themed lectures, essay contest, and poster contest were warmly welcomed in local schools.

14.2 Organization and Responsibilities

At the very beginning of the project, a tripartite project steering committee was set up to promote the coordination. Include:

14.2.1 China

14.2.1.1 National Health and Family Planning Commission

China’s National Health Commission is the national coordination agency for Zanzibar schistosomiasis control projects. It is responsible for the consideration and approval of Zanzibar schistosomiasis control projects, raising funding for the project, supervision of the project implementation, while it also liaises with the relevant ministries, the Zanzibar Government, the World Health Organization and coordination between non-governmental organizations, and informs the progress of the project to relevant departments regularly.

14.2.1.2 Ministry of Commerce

China’s Ministry of Commerce is responsible for the consideration and approval of Zanzibar schistosomiasis control projects with the National Health Commission, and it is also in charge of raising funds from the relevant departments of the Ministry of Commerce’s foreign aid projects to provide financial support to the project.

14.2.1.3 Ministry of Foreign Affairs

According to China’s foreign policies, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China is responsible to guidance the project and deal with multilateral relationship.

14.2.1.4 Jiangsu Province Health Department

Jiangsu Province Health Department is the executing agency of the project and it is responsible for the relevant units of Jiangsu Province (Africa Aid Medical Team) and report the project progress to National Health Commission.

14.2.1.5 Jiangsu Institute of Parasitic Diseases (JIPD)

Jiangsu Institute of Parasitic Diseases is responsible to manage and organize the implementation of project, and develop the project plan and budget, and send experts and provide training, and report the project progress to the National Health Commission regularly.

14.2.1.6 National Institute of Parasitic Disease, China CDC

National Institute of Parasitic Disease, China CDC is responsible to provide the necessary technical support to each implementation units who participate in the project in Zanzibar and assist the implementation units to evaluate process and effectiveness of the project.

14.2.1.7 Chinese Medical Team in Zanzibar

Chinese medical team is responsible to suggest the appropriate local working mode and other work operating mode to aid agencies and Chinese experts, and support the aid agencies and expert’s work for schistosomiasis control project.

14.2.2 Zanzibar

14.2.2.1 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in charge of Zanzibar’s international relationship and help coordinate with China and other relevant countries.

14.2.2.2 The Ministry of Finance

The Ministry of Finance is the focal point for the financial transactions and Memorandum of understanding (MOU) in collaboration with Ministry of Health Zanzibar.

14.2.2.3 The Ministry of Health

Zanzibar government shows strong political will for the multilateral cooperation to eliminate schistosomiasis under the support of China government and World Health Organization., and are willing to promise to mobilize all forces of government, non-government and community participation on schistosomiasis control project, and it is also responsible to coordinate multiple departments including the ministry of health, ministry of water resources, the environment ministry, the ministry of education to participate and ensure the implementation of the project.

The Zanzibar Ministry of health is responsible to organize the medical institutions at different levels in Zanzibar to participate in and implement schistosomiasis control project. Under the guidance of experts, the Ministry of Health carry out the work, such as health education, media surveys, sampling collection, investigation and treatment of patients. It is responsible to supervise the project and ensure the normal operation of project management. It maintains regular communication with the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China the World Health Organization and non-governmental organizations, and regularly informed of the progress of the project. In addition, reconcile NTD Zanzibar help aid agencies guidance and training the local public heath team and provide the field control services for the aid agencies and personnel of project in Zanzibar.

14.2.3 WHO

Department of Neglected Tropical Diseases WHO-HQ is responsible of project guidance and organization, coordination with relevant international organizations and funds involved in the project, provide the technical support, policy guidance and financial support, monitor and evaluate the overall project, and coordinate the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China, Zanzibar governments, NGO coordination among relevant authorities, and regularly informed of the progress of the project, and WHO Zanzibar is the liaison office to assist coordination mechanism, and coordinate the SCORE project for data sharing.

14.2.4 Project Organization Structure

With the supervision of the national schistosomiasis committee (NSC), and the full support from the national institute of parasitic diseases, China CDC, Jiangsu institute of parasitic diseases as well as the NTD office of Zanzibar, the project management organization (PMO) office executed the project. The PMO office consisted of two parts. One was located in and supported by Jiangsu institute of parasitic diseases in China, the other was in Pemba Island and supported by NTD office in Zanzibar. The project organization structure was shown in the following figure (Fig. 14.3).

Fig. 14.3

Project organization chart

14.2.5 Coordination

The success of any international project is closely related to the support of local stakeholders, particularly local government or leaders. The execution of the project was influenced by local politics, economics, culture, religion, resources and so on. In the past 50 years, China’s Africa aid activities had been well received by Zanzibar people and government, especially medical aid. Zanzibar schistosomiasis project was a novel Chinese public health aid to Africa. It focused on a disease of poverty and benefit mostly rural and poor people. Thus, it had a potential to receive support from most of the population. It also had the internal motivation to seek support from local and international sectors and establish a coordination and partnership system.

14.2.5.1 Coordination among the Project, Local Government and Sectors

Schistosomiasis control is a multi-sectoral action. It is not only the task of health sector but also need the collaboration among agricultural, water conservancy, educational and other sectors. In Africa, lack of coordination among different sectors was an important reason that hindered the development of schistosomiasis control. In China, we had a mature system to coordinate among different departments. It was a great challenge to duplicate a similar system to a country with a different language, culture and political system. First, the project needed to let the government know about its targets, strategies, the progress and people who worked for it. After the connection was made, the project could find a way to solve the problems it met with the help from the government. Second, the project needed to learn the local policy and culture so as to adjust its strategies and avoid potential conflicts. Third, a close partnership and working on the same page would greatly accelerate the progress of the project, particularly the execution of essential strategies. After 3 years of exploration and practice, we summarized the project-government coordination system in Table 14.1. It was a two-direction and mutual communication system that helped establish mutual relations and trusts. A list of sectors that collaborated in different activities had also be tableted here (see Table 14.2).

Table 14.1 The project coordination system

Table 14.2 The sectors and relevant coordination activities

14.2.5.2 Partnership on an International Level

The international partnership on schistosomiasis were limited between China and other countries. Situations has improved in the past 10 years, for example, the RNAS+ in the southeast Asia. These international collaborations helped exchange information and knowledge, strengthen capacity building, and help hold stakeholder meeting at the national and international level. In Zanzibar project, we kept close contacts with the Chinese Embassy and the WHO Zanzibar office. Thanks to their help, the project could successfully coordinate multi-sector collaboration, run complex programs, and adjust health policies, etc.

14.3 Human Resource Management: Capacity Building Oriented Approach

14.3.1 Chinese Team Recruitment and Training

The Chinese employees of the project mainly worked in the field office and the home office in China. The home office members included the project leader, the project secretaries, the accountants. They work full-time or part-time for the project. The field office was the working base for each batch of Chinese expert team. The project sent a total of six batches of Chinese experts to Zanzibar. Each batch was composed of five personnel, who were mainly experts from JIPD and other disease control centers in Jiangsu Province, beside of one cooker helping with food preparation.

Before leaving for Zanzibar, the Chinese expert team was trained mainly on English language as well as Zanzibar customs and religious habits. These were aimed to prepare them for the language and culture barrier in the future work and life in a different country.

14.3.2 Local Personnel Recruitment and Training

The project had an idea to teach local people the skills of schistosomiasis elimination. To build the local capacity of Schistosomiasis control, it was necessary to establish a well-trained local team. Meanwhile, the Chinese team alone were faced with problems in many aspects: First of all was the language barrier. The official languages of Zanzibar were English and Swahili. It was not difficult to communicate with government workers in English only. However, in field work, most of the local residents particularly rural people did not understand English. It would be a great barrier for field work like disease survey and health education. The second problem was the religious customs. In Pemba Island where the project located, most of the residents were Muslims. Misunderstandings or even conflicts might occur if the field workers were not familiar with local customs. Thus, for both training and working purposes, it was an urgent must to establish a local team who spoke local languages and was familiar with local customs and public health works.

14.3.2.1 The Recruitment and Labor Division of Local Team

In the beginning, most of the local team were recruited from the NTD office in Pemba Island. These team members used to distribute donated praziquantels to local people before, thus they had relevant treatment experiences. However, they were lack of other schistosomiasis control skills in the field. Owing to the uneven level of education and work experiences of the local team members, the project communicated with each of them about their control experiences, language skills, their insight into the job and personal wills. Based on this information, the local team were divided into the following groups (see Table 14.3).

Table 14.3 Work groups of the local team

Due to limited group size in the beginning, all members in a group category did all the jobs in the category. For example, all field work members participated in the household survey and sample collections in the baseline study. This kind of arrangement helped finish the job more efficiently and also expanded the job skills for the group members, preparing for the following enrollment for group expansion.

However, the limited group size impeded the project progress as time went by. Moreover, the generally low education level and the average 46.7-year of the first 13 group members hindered them from learning new disease control technologies. Most of them did not have even high school education. Some of them were nearly at retiring age. With these considerations, the project preferred to recruit new personnel at the age of 25–35, with relevant health work experiences.

Younger personnel could ensure the implementation of field work in complicated environment. As the field work was mainly in rural area with complex traffic situation, walking to targeted areas bearing heavy devices was required particularly in raining seasons when the muddy road blocked the cars. Manpower handling of the heavy sprayer machines was sometimes required especially in the snail control activities. Younger people could share tough heavy jobs while the older and more experienced members could help teach them the skills. In this way, the efficiency of schistosomiasis control activities was improved.

The recruitment process was cooperated between the project and the government. The project proposed the requirement and enrolling criteria, and then the government coordinated and dispatched the personnel from local health organizations. To our experience, we mainly recruit laboratory workers from clinical laboratories and pathology departments of local hospitals, survey workers from local primary health centers, and other group members from local disease control organizations. In Zanzibar, there was no comprehensive disease control organizations such as CDC. Local public health disease control organizations were mostly composed of some specific disease control offices such as NTD offices. The NTD office had its own independent office but still belonged to local health department. Human resources from this kind of offices might have different skills for different disease control programs. Their work experience should be screened in the enrollment processes. Besides, these specific offices may also be sponsored by other project so it would be difficult to dispatch personnel from them.

Our project also preferred to hire personnel with higher education so that they might learn knowledge and skills faster in computer technology, spatial epidemiology, or pathogenic biology. Limited to the actual educational level in the local health organizations, the enrollment criteria did not include the educational level. But we still recruited at least one college graduator for each of the survey group, data group and lab group. After they learnt new technology such as informationalised data collection or spatial measurement, they could teach the others in the respect group. The age and education information of the local group was summarized in Table 14.4.

Table 14.4 Age and education summary of the local team

14.3.2.2 Training of the Local Team

The training of the local team arranged at two phases. The first phase of training was arranged before the launch of the project. A group of Zanzibar NTD office members attended in JIPD a training course on prevention and treatment of schistosomiasis for developing countries. Some of them later became the backbone strength of Zanzibar team of the project. In the course, they were trained for the biology and vector of schistosome, molecular biology techniques of schistosomiasis, the Chinese experience of schistosomiasis control, molluscicide and anti-schistosomiasis medicine, etc. They learnt laboratory skills and visited local schistosomiasis control fields. They also learnt about Chinese culture. This kind of theories and practices combined learning helped trainees quickly control the new knowledge and skills.

The second phase of training occurred in Zanzibar after the project was launched. The Zanzibar employees were trained according to the actual needs of practical work. For instance, before conducting snail control activities, the Chinese team would give theoretical lectures to the Zanzibar team and taught the skills hand-to-hand. Exams would take place afterwards. Only qualified workers would be allowed to attend the field or laboratory activities. After 3 years of learning plus practicing training, the Zanzibar team was able to work independently and continue with the schistosomiasis control activities after the project ended. Moreover, all practices were trained according to standardized operation procedures (SOP). These SOPs covered the practices including the field investigation and control of Bulinus snails, resident tests and treatment of schistosomiasis haematobium, health education, sample preparation, information system management, questionnaire investigation, etc. They helped the project members control the quality of these procedures and provide sustainable working and training standard in the long run (Figs. 14.4, 14.5, 14.6).

Fig. 14.4

Skill training in office

Fig. 14.5

Skill training in the field

Fig. 14.6

Skill training in the field

14.3.3 Human Resource Management System Construction

It was our goal to construct a harmonious and sustainable human resource management system during the period of the project. To realize this, we summarized three principles in the complex work.

First, all employments should be in compliance with local laws. There was a long history of friendly relationship between China and Zanzibar. As many China-aid infrastructure construction projects and a fixed-stationed medical team were located in the island, the locals were quite amicable to Chinese experts. However, due to various differences in religions and cultures between two countries, carefully complying to local laws in all ways was still the best choice with least legal risks for an international project, particularly for the employment of local people.

Second, the Chinese employees should inspire the ownership of local employees from the top to the bottom. It was essential for the local employees and also the local residents to realize the elimination of schistosomiasis was for the benefit of their own people, their own nation and their own younger generation. They had to understand that the payment of the project was not only for the job but also for the hope of health they brought to the community. The Chinese leader and the local leader would communicate about these ideas and adapted them to local concepts. These localized concepts would then be delivered to all project members for them to understand the meaning of their works. They would discuss them and give feedbacks to the leaders for improvement. After several rounds of perfection, these ideas would be put in a health education campaign to local residents.

Third, “more work and more gains” principle should be insisted in salary management. In designing the salary package, we set the goals in the very beginning: we must establish a stable project team, which paid a competitive salary that satisfied various living needs of the members; it also inspired the work enthusiasm of the team members and created higher work value; it would also coordinate with the personal career goals of the team members.

The salary package was designed by the Chinese side and jointly negotiated by the two sides. It was composed of the basic salary, the performance salary, the bonus, the welfare and subsidy. The basic salary was the payment fixed to the job position and the required skills. The performance salary was a normative systematic remuneration paid according to the performance evaluation. The bonus was an incentive remuneration for the extra works or outstanding performances. The welfare and subsidy were payments based on the employee’s organization membership. The salary package was designed according to the “more work, more gains” principle, which is in contrast with the local government’s fixed payment. With strict work discipline implementation, this principle was proved to be effective.

14.3.4 Cultural Integration

In Zanzibar, 98% of the population believe in Islam while most of the Chinese people are not familiar with this religious belief. Before arriving in Zanzibar, the Chinese team had been trained about relevant rituals and taboos, such as the prohibition of alcohol and pork. Therefore, the work plan was made with fully consideration of local habits. In the work agenda, for example, the team leaders arranged two breaks for local employees to do their routine prays. Moreover, weekly opinion exchange meetings provided a platform for team members to communicate with each other, particularly on cultural stuffs like cooking. Several cultural exchange events were arranged. Many Chinese team members learnt some Zanzibar cuisines and it was the same for Zanzibar members. In this way, the project deepened the mutual understanding of the two sides (Fig. 14.7).

Fig. 14.7

China-Africa cultural exchange event

14.4 Infrastructure Construction and Supply Management

Infrastructures and supplies were the base for the success of a project. They not only provide the working environment and materials, but also work as a sustainable milestone for the project. In the Zanzibar schistosomiasis control project, we built infrastructures including a laboratory and office building for the local community. Besides, a transnational supply system of materials and devices was run smoothly.

14.4.1 Laboratory & Offices

The laboratory and offices are essential for the efficient executing and effect of project tasks. It was designed and built before the launch of the project. We followed three design principles: functional, elegant and cost-effective.

Offices are also designed differently according to the people who use them. For example, health specialists’ offices were relatively spacious, and arranged close to the conference room for convenience. All offices were supposed to be simple and elegant, embracing the aesthetic appreciation of both China and Zanzibar. Reception rooms and reference rooms are common in a Chinese office building but we did not build them in Zanzibar. Instead, we put reception chairs, printers and file cabinets in the health specialist’s offices.

The establishment of a laboratory was a complex systematic project consisting of the overall plan, graphic design and construction of the infrastructures, including the building structure, the electricity and water supply, illuminating equipment, air ventilation and purification, security and environmental protection measures, etc. With the idea to build a “safe, functional, environmental-friendly, durable, elegant, cost-effective, and advanced” laboratory, we illustrated the lab-design in the following aspects:

• 1. Layout graphic design

  Security, lab purpose and demand, ergonomics, lab accommodating capacity, device layout, design flow, etc. were the main consideration in the graphic design for our Zanzibar project base.

  Security was the first priority among all considerations as laboratory was the most vulnerable place for the risks like explosion, fire, hazardous gas leak, etc. Therefore, we should design as good escape passage and ventilation system as we can. For example, aisle between the experimental stations should all connect directly to the corridors for better evacuation in case of any accident.

  In Zanzibar project, the laboratory was composed of chemistry lab, instrumental analysis lab, bio-clean lab, auxiliary lab, and supply room. Different labs and devices had their own purposes and demands for ventilation, water and electricity supply and cleanness. These all brought challenges to the graphic design.

  In the first step of our design flow, Party A (the user) proposed the basic function requirement and rough layout plan; Party B (design institute), Party C (design company) discussed with Party A and confirmed together about the plan. Traditional laboratory design focused on the appearance and indoor structure rather than lab function. That could result in the disfunction of the labs or essential devices. Therefore, the lab function should be focused in the lab design and professional experts should be consulted with in the very beginning.

  The second step was to design the single lab stations. Each device, each lab station, each lab and each floor should be confirmed one by one until the whole building was totally confirmed.

  The third step was to invite the users to participate in the demo meeting of the lab to make a final decision.

• 2. Device-based structural functional system

  Device-based structural functional systems consisted of experimental stations, device stations, functional cabinets, devices and export systems.

  Worksurfaces were essential for experimental stations, which accounted for 1/3 of the price. In Zanzibar project, we chose veneer like Trespa board and solid core board like epoxy resin board as worksurfaces. They were both durable and cost-effective. Device stations were mainly for the instrumental analysis lab. A single device station was supposed to bear at least 500 kg of weight.

• 3. Water supply and drainage system

  Water supply and drainage system provided water system for experimental stations. In Africa, as the water supply system was not stable, we had to install water storage devices. At least a 10-ton water tank was required for office and laboratory each.

• 4. Electric control system

  Laboratory electricity included lighting power consumption and motive power consumption. The former was the prerequisite of a laboratory. In Pemba Island where our Zanzibar project located, the power supply was extremely unstable. It was quite common to be cut power every day. Therefore, we needed to have our own electric generator. Our experience was that at least an 80 KW power generator could support a 400 m² laboratory with devices. Meanwhile, each device including computers should be connected to uninterruptible power supply to protect the device as well as data stored.

• 5. Special gas distribution system

  In a common laboratory, only nonflammable gases (N₂, CO₂) and inert gas (argon, helium) were allowed to connect in by pipes for use. Combustion-supporting gas like O₂ and inflammable gas like H₂ could be used in GC-MS room. All pipes had to be tested for air-tightness and remove oil before use.

• 6. Hazardous gas export system

  Sometimes there would be chemical pollutions in laboratory, particularly hazardous gas. It was important to remove these gases with the least energy. The latest idea was to treat the laboratory as a smoke exhaust cabinet. In Africa, the most commonly used ventilation systems were fume hood, universal hood and ceiling hood. And the mainly used fans were axial fan (diagonal flow fan, duct fan) and centrifugal fan (Figs. 14.8 and 14.9).

Fig. 14.8

Before and after the re-construction of the office building

Fig. 14.9

Before and after the renovation of the laboratory

14.4.2 Material & Device Supply

In order to tightly administrate the material and device supply of the project, we established the following system and appointed a specific team member for the management work in each batch.

14.4.2.1 Material Procurement, Commodity Inspection and Shipping

All materials were purchased from enterprises in the supply list of the Ministry of Commerce of China through public bidding. Good quality, suitability in practice and cost-effectiveness were the major criteria for procurement. Besides, considering the requirement of the Ministry of Commerce, details like the specification and model of the products chosen, transporter, delivery time had to be fixed in the execution. Therefore, during the process of procurement, products index, performance, goods preparation cycle, applicability of products to recipient countries and after-sales service support capability were also in the concern. All the efforts were to maximize the social benefits of the project.

According to the Chinese law “Administrative measures for inspection of foreign aid materials”, all equipment and supplies procured by the financial aid from China should be qualified by commodity inspection before shipping abroad. In the commodity inspection process, JIPD took the responsibility of timely monitoring and supervision. Technical experts were invited to the factories to communicate about the situation of recipient countries to make sure of the future smooth operation of the devices produced.

Considering the complex of the custom declaration, JIPD out sourced the process to the transportation company of the recipient country as they were more familiar.

In preparing commodity inspection documents, export documents, arranging inland transportation, sea transportation and customs declaration, JIPD kept close contact with Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), suppliers, commodity inspection bureau in product origin, port commodity inspection station, customs and logistics subcontractors, to keep up with the latest status of document process, commodity inspection transportation and carrier ships. All these helped ensure that all links were closely connected, and the goods were shipped out on time.

Sufficient communication between the Chinese sides and the Zanzibar sides was a must particularly for the local custom declaration documents. Handover point should be confirmed clearly in the contrast and handover status should be signed off in time.

14.4.2.2 Technical Material Management

Technical materials refer to the technical equipment, production supplies, etc. They were procured, used and managed by JIPD in the period of the project. But the property right of technical materials belonged to the recipient. The Ministry of Commerce and JIPD confirmed with the list of technical materials and then informed the list to the commerce organization of the recipient country. After the project execution concluded, the recipient commerce organization would conduct a comprehensive inventory and arrange transfer confirmation procedures. All relevant documents were kept on record in the Ministry of Commerce of China.

14.4.2.3 Life Material Management

Life materials included the transportation vehicles, office equipment, durable goods, consumable goods and other materials that supported the work and life needs of the project team in Zanzibar.

Life materials were also procured, used and managed by JIPD during the project execution. After the project finished, the property of fixed assets like vehicles, office equipment and durable goods belonged to the recipient. The procedures of inventory, transfer and documentation were the same as technical materials. The remaining consumable goods would be transferred to the recipient by JIPD itself after the project ended.

14.5 Financial Management

14.5.1 Financial Personnel Management

The project office in China was allocated with full-time financial personnel, including financial supervisor and cashier, who had accounting qualification certificate and more than 3 years of relevant experiences and intermediate or above accounting titles. A part-time financial worker was assigned to each batch of the expert group to be responsible for the use and management of field funds.

14.5.2 Financial Management System

According to the relevant provisions of “the accounting standards for business enterprises”, the project accounts were recorded according to the actual income and expenditure; at the same time, the management system of assets was established to strengthen the management of bulk materials. According to the relevant national laws, regulations and financial rules, the Ministry of Commerce supervised the use of project funds and inspect the completion of performance objectives and the effectiveness, etc. in each budget year. For projects crossing many years, a whole process evaluation would be conducted after completion. JIPD executed the performance evaluation suggestions raised by the Ministry of Commerce.