Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) Implementation Completion Report (ICR) Review Jiangxi Poyang Lake Small Town Project (P126856) Report Number: ICRR0022200 1. Project Data Public Disclosure Authorized Project ID Project Name P126856 Jiangxi Poyang Lake Small Town Project Country Practice Area(Lead) China Water L/C/TF Number(s) Closing Date (Original) Total Project Cost (USD) IBRD-82340 31-Dec-2018 150,000,000.00 Bank Approval Date Closing Date (Actual) Public Disclosure Authorized 20-Mar-2013 31-Dec-2019 IBRD/IDA (USD) Grants (USD) Original Commitment 150,000,000.00 0.00 Revised Commitment 150,000,000.00 0.00 Actual 150,000,000.00 0.00 Public Disclosure Authorized Prepared by Reviewed by ICR Review Coordinator Group Cynthia Nunez-Ollero Vibecke Dixon Ramachandra Jammi IEGSD (Unit 4) 2. Project Objectives and Components DEVOBJ_TBL a. Objectives According to the Financing Agreement (FA, p. 4) and the Project Appraisal Document (PAD, paragraph 11) the Project Development Objective (PDO) was "to improve key public services in participating small towns of Jiangxi Province through improvements to prioritized infrastructure." Public Disclosure Authorized b. Were the project objectives/key associated outcome targets revised during implementation? Page 1 of 21 Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) Implementation Completion Report (ICR) Review Jiangxi Poyang Lake Small Town Project (P126856) No c. Will a split evaluation be undertaken? Yes d. Components 1. Transport Infrastructure Improvement (US$100.39 million at appraisal, US$106.01 million, actual). This component would finance (i) the construction and upgrading of 76 km urban and country roads in seven selected counties and the construction of greenbelt and bus stops; and (ii) the construction of a new urban central bus station, including the main terminal building, maintenance facilities, and administration building in Gongqingcheng City. In the 2016 restructuring, four sub-projects in two counties were replaced by five new sub-projects (see Dates below). At the same restructuring, the bus station construction in Gongqingcheng City was dropped. 2. Water Resources Management Infrastructure Improvement (US$45.02 million at appraisal, US$37.61 million, actual). This component would finance (i) flood protection and drainage systems in five selected counties; (ii) construction of a 10,000 m3 per day water treatment plant and associated water supply facilities in Luxi County; (iii) an integrated water management and flood control sub-project in Jinggangshan City that would construct about 7.8 km of wastewater and storm water collection pipes; (iv) construction and restoration of 160 hectares of wetlands along the Mianjiang River in Ruijin City. In the 2016 restructuring, the construction of the water treatment plant in Luxi County and two flood control sub-projects were replaced by a new Mianjiang River Improvement flood control sub-project in Ruijin City. This same sub-project, however, was later dropped in the 2018 restructuring. Component 3. Project Management and Capacity Building (cost at appraisal US$4.21 actual Cost US$6.00 million). This component would support: Institutional strengthening and capacity building by providing technical and management training, technical assistance to develop transport sector plan for three counties and flood management plans for two counties; and developing a smart transport management system in Gongqingcheng City. Office equipment would also be financed. In addition, this component would finance project management, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), including a modern, computer-based management information system (MIS) for adoption by all provincial and county project management offices (PMOs). This component would also finance consultants to undertake detailed designs and engineering works supervision. In the 2016 restructuring, several overseas study tours and procurement of some office equipment were cancelled; and replaced by additional equipment for the smart transport system in Gongqingcheng City. e. Comments on Project Cost, Financing, Borrower Contribution, and Dates Project Cost: The total project cost was US$325.89 million including a loan of US$150 million. The loan was fully disbursed. Financing: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) financed this project with a loan of US$150 million. Page 2 of 21 Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) Implementation Completion Report (ICR) Review Jiangxi Poyang Lake Small Town Project (P126856) Borrower Contribution: The government committed to contribute US$175.89 million at appraisal. This was reduced to US$151.3 million during the 2016 restructuring and further reduced to US$141.77 million during the 2018 restructuring (see in Dates below). At closing, the government disbursed US$109.84 million. Dates: The project was approved on March 20, 2013 and made effective on July 19, 2013. The Mid Term Review (MTR) was conducted on September 25, 2015. The loan was originally scheduled to close on December 31, 2018 but was extended by12 months, to close on December 31, 2019. There were three level 2 restructurings: On January 22, 2016 to reallocate resources among disbursement categories. On December 21, 2016, to (i) drop one and reduce targets for outcome and intermediate outcomes; (ii) revise components and associated costs due to realized cost savings from competitively bid contracts and change in urban master plans; (iii) reduce government contributions from the original US$175.89 million to US$151.3 million; (iv) amend the financing plan; and (v) extend the loan closing date by 12 months, from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2019. o The following targets were reduced: (1) direct beneficiaries of newly built or rehabilitated roads, reduced from 491,000 to 478,000 persons; (2) direct beneficiaries of flood protection reduced from 141,000 to 134,000; (3) length of newly built/rehabilitated roads from 76 to 65 km; (4) travel time saved from 157 to 152 minutes; (5) length of strengthened dikes from 36 to 35 km; and (6) increase in the area protected from floods from 22,400 to 20,200 km2. The following target was dropped - 10,000 cubic meter a day from Luxi County water treatment plant because the county updated its master plan (2015-2000) and self-financed a larger capacity water treatment plant. o The following components were revised: (1) under the transport sector, 4 roads in Gongqingcheng City and Nanfeng were replaced with 5 new roads in Dexing, Luxi, Gongqingcheng, and Yifeng, and a central bus station dropped after Gongqingcheng City updated its master plan in 2014 to follow the central government's development strategy toward greener growth. (2) Under the water sector, the Yuanhe River Flood Protection, Luxi Urban Water, and the Mianjiang River East Dike flood protection sub-projects were replaced by the Mianjiang River Improvement flood control sub-project. On June 23, 2018 to (i) further reduce the already reduced targets in the Results Framework; (ii) revise costs and components; and (iii) reallocate resources. No changes were made to the indicators. o The following targets were reduced a second time: (1) direct beneficiaries of flood protection. further reduced from 134,000 to 100,000 persons; (2) length of strengthened dikes further reduced from 35 to 29.53 km; and (3) increase in the area protected from floods further reduced from 20,200 to 17,052 km2. o The following component was dropped - the Mianjiang River Improvement flood control sub- project added during the second restructuring - because detailed design revealed unwelcome impact on a high cultural value bridge and non-compliance with Bank safeguards if pursued. 3. Relevance of Objectives Page 3 of 21 Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) Implementation Completion Report (ICR) Review Jiangxi Poyang Lake Small Town Project (P126856) Rationale China has been rapidly urbanizing and expected to reach 70 percent urbanization by 2020 from a level of 48 percent at appraisal. Between 2000 and 2030, 300 million people would be migrating from rural to urban areas and at least 200 million off-farm jobs would be created. Smaller towns would absorb about 40 percent of the country's rural-urban migrants. However, these small towns had a few development problems in that there was a lack of regional development plans and there was also weak coordination with social and economic development plans and land use plans. These small towns needed infrastructure investments in flood protection roads, water supply, wastewater treatment and they lacked financing channels for these infrastructure needs. China selected the poorer Jiangxi Province to demonstrate a new development approach outlined in its 12th Five Year Plan (FYP) for small town development. In 2009, the State Council approved a national level development plan for the Poyang Lake Region - the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Plan. A Regional level Master Plan for the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Development Zone was prepared for 2010-2015 to cover 18 special sector specific master plans. This project supported the small town development for the Poyang Lake Ecological Economic Zone. The PDO was relevant to the country's national priorities noted in the 13th FYP (2016–2020) and China’s National Plan on New Urbanization (2014–2020). The 13th FYP set new urbanization as a national priority, promoting small town development, and enhancing urban infrastructure. In addition, the 13th FYP also highlighted the importance of integrated water resources management in the Poyang