A Study of the US Foreign Aid System and Implications for China 

(By Sun Mingxia)

Abstract: The United States is one of the first countries that have established an integrated legal system for its foreign aid. The US foreign aid system is mainly composed of a legal framework revolving around the Foreign Assistance Act and an organizational structure which has USAID as the core executive agency. Such a system ensures the stability and the main principles of implementation and management of US foreign aid programs. At the same time, the US Congress passes related legislations and the executive branch gives executive orders according to requirement of specific foreign policy goals in different periods. Besides, new foreign aid agencies and other federal agencies are established when needed, which ensures the feasible and real-time implementation of American foreign aid programs. It is also important to point out four problems in the US foreign aid system which includes the outdated Foreign Assistance Act and numerous complicated executive orders encumbering the operation of foreign aid agencies, the lack of a cabinet-level foreign aid agency, failure to distinguish between foreign aid goals and less effective interagency cooperation. As China rises, its foreign assistance has increased drastically. How to make its foreign assistance programs effective and useful has become an important concern for China. It is strategically important to study the advantages and disadvantages of the US foreign aid system so as to draw some useful lessons for China in this regard.