China Deepens Partnership with the World Bank's Knowledge for Change Program with New Contribution

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The World Bank and the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China have signed an Administration Agreement under which China will contribute to the Knowledge for Change Program (KCP) IV Umbrella Multi-Donor Trust Fund. The signing ceremony was held at World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C. on the 16^th of April 2026.

The agreement was signed by Indermit Gill, Chief Economist of the World Bank and Senior Vice President for Development Economics, and Liao Min, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China.

Also present at the ceremony were Jiandi Ye, World Bank Group Executive Director EDS17; Somik Lall, Director of Strategy, Office of the World Bank Group Chief Economist; Kerina Wang, Program Manager of the Knowledge for Change Program; and other members of the Chinese delegation and the KCP Program Management Unit.

A Union Rooted in Results

China is a longstanding partner of the KCP. In 2010, China's Ministry of Finance contributed to the Program's window on Economic Development and Structural Change. That investment addressed some of the most pressing development challenges across the world and contributed to China's own reform agenda - in the areas of rural-urban integration, aging, social protection, and the transformation of household survey systems.

Two projects under KCP II provided direct technical support to China's National Bureau of Statistics, helping produce the country's first rural poverty map and correcting the sampling bias in urban household surveys - data that later underpinned social protection projects across the country. Another project on urbanization and aging helped spark a national conversation on retirement age reform, and generated hundreds of media references following the release of the East Asia and Pacific Aging Report.

Today's signing marks a transition. China is contributing to the KCP not only as a partner developing solutions for China, but as a provider of global public goods - bringing its development experience and research capacity to bear on the challenges facing countries worldwide.

About the Contribution

The contribution will power rigorous, policy-oriented research on jobs and economic growth, digital transformation, and human capital development, among other pressing development challenges. Beyond research, it will help translate knowledge into policy action through structured engagement events. Working with a global network of think tanks, research institutions, and experts, these projects will adapt global insights to local contexts, while ensuring that local researchers have a platform to contribute to global conversations.

About the Knowledge for Change Program

The Knowledge for Change Program (KCP) is an umbrella multi-donor trust fund housed in the World Bank's Development Economics Vice Presidency (DEC). Established in 2002, the KCP promotes evidence-based policy development by delivering high-impact, policy-relevant research and knowledge products. Over more than two decades, the Program has invested more than USD 95 million across 495 projects covering research, data, and analytics in support of poverty reduction and shared prosperity.

KCP Phase IV, launched in late 2020, focuses on key development themes aligned with the World Bank's IDA priorities: jobs and economic transformation; fragility, conflict, and violence; climate change; gender and development; governance and institutions; and cross-cutting issues including human capital, debt and financial fragility, disability, and technology.

For more information, visit the KCP website.

Media Contact: Brian Oji World Bank Group