The IMF has been providing training in China for over three decades. In 2004, the Joint China-IMF Training Program (CTP) was established in a permanent location in the Dalian International Finance Conference Center.

During the Belt and Road Summit in May 2017, the IMF and the People’s Bank of China (PBC) expanded the CTP to establish the new China-IMF Capacity Development Center, or CICDC. At the same time, China agreed to significantly step up its support for the IMF’s capacity development activities, both within China and beyond, including to countries associated with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This marked a giant step in the IMF’s relationship with China, and a win for both sides and the IMF membership at large. The CICDC is fully funded through this generous financial contribution by the PBC.

The CICDC is headquartered in Shanghai with training facilities in three locations: Shanghai, Shenzhen and Dalian.

The CICDC began operation in Dalian in March 2018. The debut course, Managing Capital Flows: Macroeconomic Analysis and Policies, was delivered by an inter-departmental IMF team and attended by participants from six government agencies in China.

The CICDC was formally inaugurated in Beijing by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and PBC Governor Yi Gang in April 2018, on the occasion of the joint PBC-IMF high level conference on Macroeconomic and Financial Frameworks for Successful Implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.

In addition to the Dalian location, CICDC training will take place in a second location in the Shenzhen Financial Training Center. The Shenzhen training facilities were officially opened in June 2018 with the first course, Fiscal Policy Analysis.

In June 2024, the IMF and the PBC announced the opening of a new IMF regional center in Shanghai, and the CICDC to be co-located with the new Center to maximize synergies. In September 2025, the CICDC relocated from Beijing to Shanghai, and organized its first workshop in Shanghai in October.

CICDC-sponsored events may also take place in other locations in or outside China. The CICDC also sponsors training outside China.