Above: Grenada (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Grenada will be receiving $8.7 million in grant assistance from the government of China.

The funding was the result of bilateral talks between Grenada Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Trinidad this weekend.

The grant is part of a multi-million dollar package of assistance that China has offered the country.

The money’s purpose has not yet been fully detailed. Chinese officials said the money can be drawn down “at a schedule,” according to Grenada’s government.

Mitchell led a four-man delegation to Trinidad that included Foreign Minister Nickolas Steele. He asked China for $10 million annually in budgetary support for the next three years.

“I add again that the cash support, this year, next year and the following year is crucial because of the situation in which we have found ourselves,” Prime Minister Mitchell told President Xi in his presentation.

China is currently funding the construction of hundreds of housing units in the country, among other projects.

Mitchell, in a 45-minute presentation this weekend, called for assistance in the area of education.

“We recognize that while we are smaller than many other countries, our people want to compete in the same way as other people in the global society,” he said. “To do this we must educate them and empower them with knowledge.”