In a bid to slash $ 377-million international foreign aid, Ottawa government has decided to cut its direct humanitarian aid to Beijing by end of next year.

China is in the list of 14 countries whose foreign aid would be either reduced or stopped for the year 2014-2015, according to the Canadian Press.

The announcement came as a result of Canadian International Development Agency's effort to allocate the funds more precisely. The agency is targeting to collaborate more with the private sectors to generate more jobs and bring economic prosperity to the concerned countries.

"We will continue to seek out innovative ways to partner with the private sector, such as the agriculture industry, so that we can achieve greater development results which are more sustainable over the long-term," said Julian Fantino, Minister of International Cooperation.

"We look forward to continuing to build a partnership with China that advances our common interests, Canadian values and the friendship between the peoples of our two countries," Fantino told Canadian Press in an email.

As China's military muscle and economic influence on the global affairs grew increasingly in recent years, questions have been raised in recent times over why Beijing should receive humanitarian aid from Ottawa.

After analyzing Canada's aid to China, Associate Vice-President of external research at the University of Waterloo Bruce Muirhead said that there is a huge economic gap between the cities and villages in China. Muirhead said it is the villages that need Canada's aid.

"When you go to the eastern part of China, which is where probably where 99 per cent of Canadians, if they go to China, do go, places like Beijing or Shanghai, they would put to shame almost any Canadian city," Canadian Press quoted Bruce Muirhead as saying.

"But if you go a little bit into the interior, it's a completely different situation. ... It's not the urban areas where CIDA puts its money, it's in the rural areas. Those people really need help," said Muirhead.

Through bilateral and multilateral channels, Ottawa sent around $ 30 million humanitarian aid to Beijing in 2010-2011.

 Cambodia, Malawi, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe are the other countries that have been dropped out from the list of Canada's humanitarian aid.

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