从1950年代起，我国开始向发展中国家提供援助。中国已向100多个国家，提供了2000多个成套项目，其中建成了1000多座建筑，大部分项目为中国捐赠、设计和施工。. 西方国家在海外的建设引人注目，有的还载入建筑历史书中；而我国投放了相当于几百亿美元的外援，中国建筑在海外的设计却未能引起足够的国际重视和国内反思。这些疑惑引出以下一系列问题。.- 这些援外项目是哪些建筑类型，建于何处？- 谁引导和催成了这些项目？- 在什么条件和情况下，建成了这些项目？- 受援国当地社会如何接受这些建筑和设施？- 这些建筑如何帮助了受援国的现代化进程？- 这些设计有哪些建筑和技术特征、可以启发未来？. 项目组将获取第一手资料，认识中国外援建筑的意义，本项研究将为中国现代建筑研究，提供新的历史材料和批评视角。对于外援的政府和公司持份者，本项目将提供及时的信息、经验和教训。

Providing international aid to developing countries offers the opportunity to not only address the country’s needs and assist development, but also exert an impact at the cultural and architectural level. In the 1950s, China benefited from aid from the Soviet Union and East European countries, as evidenced by the Sino-Soviet Friendship Buildings in Beijing and Shanghai and No.1 Vehicle Factory in Changchun. In the 1960s, China itself began to aid developing countries in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. While international aid usually flows from rich to poor countries, China’s aid at this time could be classified as “the poor helping the poor.” By 2009, over 2,000 projects had been delivered in more than 100 countries, in the fields of agriculture, irrigation, fishery, public facilities, education, sanitation, and health. Over 1,000 buildings were constructed, including parliament houses, convention centers, stadiums, gymnasiums, theatres, schools, hospitals, libraries, railways, and stations. Most of these projects were considered political gifts, and were designed and constructed by Chinese professionals. More recently, China has begun to undertake many more infrastructural projects in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America, mainly as an investor and construction contractor, but also for strategic reasons.. While the influence of Western architecture in the developing world is fairly obvious and well documented, the influence and impact of Chinese designs are unquantified and neglected. Chinese architectural journals and history books briefly mention individual projects, but there is no systematic account of these buildings and their impact. The responses from receiving countries are rarely heard or understood. This study will aim to rediscover Chinese architecture abroad and evaluate its impact by addressing the following questions..- What types of buildings have been built with Chinese aid, and where are they? .- Who directed these projects? .- Did local societies accept these buildings and facilities? .- How did the buildings help in the modernization of the receiving countries? .- What are the architectural and technical merits of these designs? .- How did “the poor help the poor”?. Several Asian and African cities will be selected to conduct an in-depth study of key aid projects. The selection considers the spread of projects during the study periods, building types, and geographical locations. The team will search archives, investigate buildings on site, and interview key individuals to construct a history of China’s architectural projects abroad and understand their design and technical merits. A book and several papers will be produced. . The PI has studied contemporary Chinese architecture, foreign imported architecture in China, and the post-war architecture of Hong Kong, and has published 10 books and over 100 papers on the subject. . This project will provide a historical document and critique of modern Chinese architecture abroad, assess its cultural and architectural impact, and inform stakeholders about which types of buildings and technologies can best serve the needs of developing countries in the future.