Global Environment Facility (GEF), an international environment fund, has designated its first executive agency in China and Asia, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) Thursday.

The GEF signed a memorandum of understanding with the MEP on Thursday and named Foreign Economic Cooperation Office of the MEP its only executive agency in China.

As a world renowned financial entity dedicated to global environment governance, GEF has carried out major cooperative projects in China which greatly enhanced China's capacity for environmental protection and sustainable growth, said Li Ganjie, vice minister of the MEP.

The GEF's fund contributed a lot to China's international environmental conventions, Li said.

The GEF has supported 143 projects over the past 20 odd years, donating a total of 1.1 billion USdollars to China's environmental protection, said Cheng Zhijun, a senior leader with the Ministry of Finance.

China has also been very active in supporting GEF's global cause, Cheng said, adding it donated 20 million US dollars to GEF in 2014 alone, up 33 percent than the previous donation, first among all developing countries.

The GEF, founded in 1991, has established 18 executive agencies worldwide so far, including the World Bank, United Nations Development Program and United Nations Environment Program.