China developed small hydropower (SHP) with its own resources instead of importing advanced technology from other countries. SHP has been instrumental in rural electrification. In 1997, SHP accounted for 28.6% of whole exploitable hydro energy in China. The peculiarities of SHP of China are:
1. Decentralised approach for SHP development with county as basic unit,
2. Special policies and strategies adopted
- self construction, self management and self consumption
- rural hydropower development fund set up - levy of 2 cents of each kWh
- electricity generates electricity policy
3. Various Channels of investment are mobilised
To exploit China's experience in SHP the International Network on Small Hydropower (IN-SHP) was established in Hangzhou, China.
