DESCRIPTION
This project is an emergency operation in response to the urgent need of the government for post-flood disaster recovery and reconstruction. The project will comprise activities in three municipalities of Zhengzhou, Xinxiang, and Jiaozuo, which are among the most severely impacted by the flood. Interventions will focus on rehabilitation and reconstruction of damaged infrastructure while the long-term sustainability and climate resilience are taken into account. The project will support post-disaster recovery in sectors of water resources and flood management, urban, and transport, which are critical to social and economic recovery of the project municipalities and the province.
Component 1: Zhengzhou Post-disaster Recovery Program. This component will support civil works and goods required for rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in water and flood management, urban, and transport sectors in Zhengzhou municipality. The sub-projects are: (a) integrated Jinshui River management project, including riverbank protection, river dredging, reconstruction of riverside roads and bridges, improvement of drainage and sewerage systems, and riverside green spacing and river ecosystems; (b) rehabilitation of rural roads and bridges; (c) rehabilitation works in the Ying River in Dengfeng City; (d) development of an integrated flood risk management system and strengthening the capacity for emergency response; and (e) project management support for capacity building in procurement, financial management, environmental and social (ES) management, and other technical areas.
Component 2: Xinxiang Post-disaster Recovery Program. This component will support activities to recover damaged infrastructure in the water, urban and transport sectors in Xinxiang municipality. The sub-projects consist of: (a) rehabilitation works in rivers and canals, including river dredging and dike strengthening; (b) rehabilitation of national and provincial highways, urban bus terminals, and procurement of electric buses; (c) rehabilitation and improvement of urban drainage systems; (d) development of integrated flood emergency response system; and (e) project management support for capacity building in procurement, financial management, ES management, and other technical areas.
Component 3: Jiaozuo Post-disaster Recovery Program. This component consists of interventions to support the recovery of Jiaozuo municipality, including: (a) rehabilitation works in rivers and canals such as river dredging and dike strengthening; (b) rehabilitation and improvement of the urban canals, drainage and sewage systems, and roads; (c) development of an integrated flood emergency response system� including a smart river management system and a smart urban water management system; and (d) project management support for capacity building in procurement, financial management, ES management and other technical areas.
As an emergency response project, a framework approach with agreed eligibility criteria was adopted to allow for some flexibility in reconstruction. Most of the initial identified activities have successfully completed construction by the end of 2023, with loan savings resulting from competitive procurement processes.
On Dec. 29, 2023, to make full use of the loan from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Henan Provincial Project Management Office (Henan PPMO) submitted the first official request to include additional project activities within the agreed framework. AIIB approved the request on Jan. 17, 2024 as a non-material change. On April 30, 2026, MOF and Henan PPMO submitted a second official request to (a) utilize loan savings by including additional eligible project activities within the project framework and (b) extend the loan closing date for 24 months. AIIB approved the second request on May 15, 2026 as a non-material change. The project now supports a larger scope of post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation activities, increasing the total infrastructure investments enabled by the AIIB loan from USD1,399 million to USD1,512 million.
The additional project activities include rehabilitation and improvement of river sections, rural roads and bridges, urban roads and bridges, and urban drainage systems. These activities were not included in the original scope due to limited financial resources (based on the initial cost estimate at the time of loan approval). The same principle of “build back better,” ES safeguards, and fiduciary standards were applied to all additional project activities.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL INFORMATION
Applicable Policy and Categorization. AIIB’s Environmental and Social Policy (ESP, June 2024), including the Environment and Social Standards (ESSs) and the Environmental and Social Exclusion List (ESEL), apply to the project. AIIB’s Environment and Social Standard (ESS)1 on Environmental and Social Assessment and Management and ESS2 on Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement apply based on the ES screening and due diligence conducted during Project preparation on the subprojects that were proposed by the government. Based on available information, ESS3 on Indigenous Peoples is not applied since communities of ethnic minorities are not present in the footprint of the subprojects. Based on the review of the proposed sample subprojects, the project has been assigned Category A. The project mainly involves rehabilitation and reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure in the three sectors, and the subproject activities mostly involve localized ES impacts, especially in the context of natural disaster and significant physical damage caused by flooding in urban and rural areas. It is also expected that the ES risks and potential impacts of some of the subproject activities are likely to be significant, cumulative, diverse, and may affect areas larger than the subproject’s sites. Therefore, appropriate mitigation and management measures have been designed to address all possible risks envisaged for the potential subprojects.
Environmental and Social Instruments. Given the emergency nature of the project, a phased approach for addressing the ES risks and impacts has been adopted, which is appropriate and permitted under the ESP for Situations of Urgent Need of Assistance. Given that the detailed activities under the subprojects to be included in this emergency project were not fully identified and finalized in the project preparation stage, an Environmental and Social Management Planning Framework (ESMPF) had been prepared considering all potential ES risks envisaged during project design and implementation. The ESMPF covers: (a) background and objectives; (b) description of the Project; (c) key policies and regulations on ES issues issued by the AIIB and the Government of China; (d) approach to addressing ES issues; (e) screening, impact assessment and management of ES risks; (f) institutional arrangements with respective responsibilities and processing procedures; (g) Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) and applicability of AIIB’s independent accountability mechanism, the Project-affected People’s Mechanism (PPM); and (h) supervision, monitoring and evaluation and reporting arrangements. Some technical supporting and guidance tools, such as the ES screening table, indicative outline of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), and Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), including a Resettlement Plan (RP), have been included in the ESMPF as annexes.
Environmental and Social Aspects. Based on the information available for the proposed activities, especially the ones for urban and transport sectors, including the rehabilitation or reconstruction of roads in urban and rural areas and drainage systems, the ES impacts and risks are expected to be minor, localized, and manageable through the application of appropriate mitigation measures and good management practices in an operational setting. It is, however, also expected that some proposed activities, such as rehabilitation or construction of river dikes, river dredging, and reconstruction of bridges, could lead to significant ES risks and impacts. Some of these activities might be located in environmentally sensitive locations, such as nature reserves, areas of significant biodiversity features or cultural heritage sites, and some might require land acquisition and resettlement. Social risks and impacts may include loss of livelihood from physical or economic displacement due to temporary or permanent land acquisition. Therefore, during project implementation, under the guidance of the ESMPF, the ESIA and/or the ESMPs have been prepared for each proposed subproject in three project municipalities. During the preparation of ESIAs/ESMPs, public consultations have been carried out with identified stakeholders, the project-affected people, to seek their views, concerns, and feedback, to further enhance the project design and mitigation measures. The subproject ESIAs/ESMPs had been disclosed through the respective city PMOs’ websites once they were completed. For the new activities that were approved to be added within the project framework and implemented in the extended timeframe for project implementation, the above approach will be applied. The ESMPF will provide guidance for ES screening and preparation of the ESIA/ESMP for each new subproject through ES baseline data collection/verification and assessment, mitigation measures design, and meaningful public consultation and information disclosure.
Stakeholder Engagement, Consultation and Information Disclosure. Consultations with various stakeholders have been conducted during preparation of the ESMPF, including meetings with various Henan provincial government departments. Consultations with other project stakeholders such as PMOs, design institutes, and local communities were conducted during Project site visits. Continuous stakeholder consultation throughout project implementation have been supporting the preparation of the respective subproject ESIAs and ESMPs. The English and Chinese versions of the ESMPF have been posted on the government websites, including the Government of Henan Province’s website, the websites of the three municipalities of Zhengzhou, Xinxiang and Jiaozuo, and AIIB’s website.[1] Hard copies of the ESIAs have also been made available, once prepared, at the subproject sites before the commencement of subproject activities.
Project Grievance Redress Mechanism. In accordance with the ESMPF, each city PMO established a GRM to receive any concerns and complaints about project activities and implementation. Staff responsible for GRM management have been assigned in each PMO, and GRM-related information has been disclosed through various means, e.g., disseminations through stakeholders’ meetings, posters posting at the project sites with staff name and contact information, hotline number, etc. To date, GRMs have been functioning in three project cities, and all concerns/complaints received, mainly about construction noise, dust, and traffic interruption, have been resolved. There is no remaining unresolved complaint case.
Monitoring and Reporting Arrangement. As requested by ESMPF, the ES management and monitoring reports have been prepared by the municipality PMOs, quarterly for the first-year implementation and semi-annually afterwards, which have been reviewed and summarized by the Henan PPMO based on the agreed format, and subsequently submitted by the Henan PPMO in a timely manner to AIIB for review. PMOs in each municipality are responsible for subproject monitoring, data collection, and preparation of their separate subproject implementation reports. AIIB has made regular field visits to support and supervise project implementation, ensuring that implementation complies with AIIB’s ESF and national government policy and requirements.
[1] AIIB website: https://www.aiib.org/en/projects/details/2021/approved/China-Henan-Flood-Emergency-Rehabilitation-and-Recovery-Project.html
Government of Henan website: http://czt.henan.gov.cn/2021/11-05/2342160.html
Zhengzhou Municipality website: https://zzcz.zhengzhou.gov.cn/ggtz/10128849.jhtml
Xinxiang Municipality website: http://czj.xinxiang.gov.cn/xwzx/tzgg/1290694.html
Jiaozuo Municipality website: https://czj.jiaozuo.gov.cn/2021/11-05/272707.html
