Pretoria, South Africa — In a move reflecting changing global health-funding dynamics, the People’s Republic of China has announced a US $3.49 million grant over two years to support HIV-prevention efforts in South Africa, stepping into a gap left by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) scale-back of aid to the country’s HIV programme.
According to a joint announcement by UNAIDS and the Chinese Embassy, the funding will be channelled through UNAIDS and targeted at high-risk groups including young people and people who inject drugs.
The project will span seven provinces, engage 54 000 adolescents and young people at technical and vocational education and training colleges, and support 500 people who inject drugs via harm-reduction and opioid-agonist-therapy programmes.
Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa’s Health Minister, welcomed the new funding, acknowledging it arrives at a “critical moment” as the country faces a two-fold challenge: sustaining the world’s largest HIV-treatment programme (over 8 million people living with HIV) while coping with reduced external donor funding.
Ambassador Wu Peng of China said the initiative reflects China’s commitment to South South cooperation and the building of a “global community of health for all,” linking the assistance to broader themes of solidarity, equality and sustainability.
Observers say the new Chinese support underscores a shift in donor-landscape dynamics. For years, the United States contributed about 17 % of South Africa’s HIV budget — more than US $400 million annually — but recent cuts in U.S. foreign-aid allocations left significant concerns over programme continuity.
South Africa, though largely self-funding its HIV response (with domestic sources covering roughly 83 % of the budget), has nonetheless signalled the need for renewed global partnerships in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
The Chinese-funded project is set to begin in January 2026 and will include technology transfer, capacity-building, and enhanced drug-supply-chain support in coordination with South Africa’s Departments of Health, Higher Education and Training, Correctional Services, and relevant UN agencies.
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