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|EXHIBIT 12.1

Certification by the Chief Executive Officer
Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

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|I, John D. Kuhns, Chief Executive Officer of China Hydroelectric
 Corporation (the Company), certify that:
|                                                                                                             |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|1.                                                                                                           | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 20-F of the Company;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
|                                                                                                             |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|2.                                                                                                           | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement
 of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
 statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
 were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;                     
|                                                                                                             |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|3.                                                                                                           | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
 information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects
 the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company
 as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;                                           
|                                                                                                             |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|4.                                                                                                           | The Companys other certifying officer and I are responsible for
 establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
 in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over
 financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and
 15d-15(f)) for the Company and have:
|                                                                                                             |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|                                                                                                             | (a)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
 disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
 ensure that material information relating to the company, including its
 consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
 entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being
 prepared;
|                                                                                                             |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|                                                                                                             | (b)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused
 such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our
 supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of
 financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external
 purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;     
|                                                                                                             |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|                                                                                                             | (c)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | Evaluated the effectiveness of the Companys disclosure controls and
 procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
 effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the
 period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and                                                                                             
|                                                                                                             |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|                                                                                                             | (d)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | Disclosed in this report any change in the Companys internal control
 over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by this
 report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
 affect, the Companys internal control over financial reporting; and                                                                               
|                                                                                                             |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|5.                                                                                                           | The Companys other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based
 on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,
 to the Companys auditors and the audit committee of Companys board of
 directors (or persons performing the equivalent function):                                           
|                                                                                                             |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|                                                                                                             | (a)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or
 operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably
 likely to adversely affect the Companys ability to record, process,
 summarize and report financial information; and                                                                                                       
|                                                                                                             |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
|                                                                                                             | (b)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
 employees who have a significant role in the Companys internal control over
 financial reporting.                                                                                                                                                                                                       

|                     |     |                               
|-------------------- | --- | ------------------------------
|Date: April 27, 2012 |     |                               
|                     |     |                               
|                     | By: | /s/ John D.
 Kuhns            
|                     |     |                               
|                     |     | Name: John D. Kuhns           
|                     |     | Title: Chief Executive Officer

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