GLOBAL CHINA INITIATIVE
The Global China Initiative (GCI) advances policy-oriented research on China’s overseas economic activity and engagement with international institutions in order to enable financial stability, human well-being and environmental sustainability.
GLOBAL CHINA RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT
For over 15 years, China has been a vital source of development finance for low- and middle-income countries around the world, committing nearly a half-trillion dollars in public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) finance since 2008.
With lending far below peak levels seen in 2015-2017, what is the current status of China’s overseas development finance? And what do these trends reveal about the potential future of China’s overseas lending?
In 2024, the China’s Overseas Development Finance (CODF) Database, managed by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center, recorded $6.1 billion in 20 new sovereign and publicly guaranteed loans. This figure is roughly in line with the trend since 2020, of an average of $6.2 billion through an average of 24 loans per year.
A new policy brief shares insights on the state of China’s overseas development finance from 2008-2024 and how borrowers, sectors and loan types have changed over the years. The update shows that for the first time from 2020-2024, China’s overseas development finance is shifting away from direct project finance and toward support of development finance intermediaries, like national and regional development banks.
Explore the Data Read the Policy Brief 阅读政策简报摘要Explore the research
Latest News & Publications
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How We Track China’s Overseas Development Finance: A Guide to GDP Center’s Four Flagship Databases
November 20, 2025By Yiyuan Qi and William Olichney As China’s overseas financing activities expand across the globe, the need for reliable, detailed and publicly accessible data has grown... [ More ]
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Redefining Models for Global Green Cooperation: Lessons from China’s Emerging Partnerships
November 19, 2025By Mengdi Yue As climate, biodiversity and pollution crises intensify, the call for green transformation has become universal. Yet while the urgency is clear, how countries... [ More ]
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The Land Gap: How Conservation Can Make Sovereign Debt Crises Less Common
November 13, 2025By Rebecca Ray Globally, conserving nature is a key priority for protecting communities and economies from the catastrophic impacts of climate change. To this end, nations... [ More ]
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Book Launch: China and the Global Economic Order
October 10, 2025By Kevin P. Gallagher and Gregory T. Chin More than any time since their founding in 1944, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, [ More ]
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Reviving Chinese Development Finance in the Global South
October 10, 2025The multilateral system is falling short in mobilizing the level and composition of capital flows necessary for countries in the Global South to raise living... [ More ]
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The Road to 2030: What Role for Chinese Development Finance?
October 10, 2025By Rebecca Ray By 2030, low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) other than China must mobilize an ambitious $3 trillion annually to meet their development needs and... [ More ]
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Global Development Policy Center – Annual Report 2025
September 02, 2025The Boston University Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center) is a policy-oriented research center working to advance financial stability, human well-being and environmental sustainability across... [ More ]
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Reviving the Past or Risking the Future? Chinese-Financed Hydropower and the Fate of “Dinosaur Dams”
August 27, 2025by Julie Radomski As countries around the world strive to meet their renewable energy targets, large hydroelectric dams are often framed as clean and reliable alternatives... [ More ]
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Dinosaur Dams: The Historical Origins of Chinese Hydroelectric Projects and Their Environmental Implications
August 27, 2025Hydroelectric megaprojects represent an important target for Chinese development finance in the 21st century and will likely remain so given their categorization as renewable energy... [ More ]
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GDP Center Round-up: 4th International Conference on Financing for Development
June 26, 2025By Samantha Igo As a record-breaking heat wave strains energy grids and risks public health across Europe, policymakers, activists and experts convene in Seville, Spain from... [ More ]