China has said that its foreign aid programs must not interfere in the domestic affairs of countries that receive the support. This is according to new rules from the Ministry of Commerce released on Nov. 17. The Ministry gave further details of its regulations governing Chinese aid on Monday. It has stressed on the importance of stricter supervision of China’s foreign aid programs. CCTV’s Hou Na reported from Beijing.

During the past 60 years, China has provided foreign aid worth more than $60 billion to 166 countries and organizations. China’s foreign aid programs have won international praise.

“The world is changing rapidly. New circumstances arise when it comes to China’s foreign aid efforts. As President Xi Jinping has stressed recently, we should truly to uphold justice and pursue shared interests and do a good job in providing foreign aid. We should protect China’s overseas interests and continue to improve our capacity to provide such protection,” Assistant Minister of Ministry of Commerce Zhang Xiangchen said.

The new regulations call for punishing acts of fraud, bribery and other improper uses of aid funds, and for aid workers to avoid engaging in outside businesses.

“We will strengthen the supervision of foreign aid programs, and establish evaluation mechanism in projects to make sure that they are carried out in a just and fair manner,” Deputy Director of the Department of Aid to Foreign Countries Liu Junfeng said.

China has worked to use its growing military power for humanitarian causes as it tries to win over international support, dispatching a People’s Liberation Army team to West Africa to aid in the fight against Ebola.

China donated $6 million on Dec. 2 to the United Nations’ fund for combating the outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa.

There are also plans to increase the number of Chinese medical workers in affected countries to 1,000 over the next few months.

China has donated $19 million through the U.N. Development Program to a number of African nations since the outbreak began.

According to the new regulation, China’s aid programs must respect the sovereignty of the recipient country, even as the support helps to alleviate poverty, promote economic growth and develop diplomatic ties.