Australia is working with the World Bank and China to try to get more transparency and effectiveness from Beijing's aid to the Pacific which includes Fiji.

ABC News said the Australian international development assistance agency, AusAID, has told a parliamentary committee in Canberra, it is aware of some major promised Chinese aid projects in the Pacific.

This includes 70 million US dollars for a hydro-power project in Fiji and speculation about Chinese support for ethanol production from cassava, also in Fiji.

But AusAID said estimates of a big rise in overall Chinese aid to the Pacific will not necessarily become reality.

AusAID official Dr Jane Lake said the project with the World Bank and China is also based on a British project focused on China's aid in Africa.