Information technology (IT) forms an increasingly important component of donor‐funded development projects, yet there has been very little structured analysis of the IT transfer process. This paper presents and evaluates a structured framework for analysis of IT transfer ‐ the information technology transfer life‐cycle ‐ based on a study of four Chinese technology projects. The life‐cycle framework helps to structure both data‐gathering and analysis, and it is used to highlight a number of shortcomings within the Chinese projects. However, several broader project and environmental issues are also identified that impinge on the technology transfer process. The life‐cycle framework must therefore be viewed within a broader contextual model, which is presented in the paper.