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
Between 2000-2024, 42 Chinese lenders signed 1,319 loan commitments amounting to $180.87 billion with 49 African governments and seven regional institutions.
In 2025, the Chinese Loans to Africa (CLA) Database, managed by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center, recorded just under $2.1 billion of Chinese loans commitments to Africa which remained concentrated among a small group of borrowers.
A new policy brief analyzes the state of Chinese lending to Africa reflected in this database update. The current level reflects China’s ongoing strategic recalibration of its economic engagement with African countries.
Explore the Data Read the Policy Brief 阅读政策简报摘要Explore the research
Latest News & Publications
Receive Updates from GCI through the GDP Center Newsletter 订阅“中国与全球发展项目”定期中文邮件更新-
Coal to Clean Transition Pathways for Pakistan
September 09, 2026By Zainab Babar, Dr. Khalid Waleed Pakistan's power sector is a study in contradictions: real progress shadowed by unresolved structural problems, and genuine potential left largely... [ More ]
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Transitioning Coal-Fired Power Plants in Pakistan: Pathways for Early Retirement and Repurposing
September 09, 2026A new report released in collaboration with the Boston University Global Development Policy Center and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Pakistan by authors Mengdi... [ More ]
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Norm Defenders in a Multipolar Institutional Field: Transnational Environmental and Social Advocacy at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
September 04, 2026By Andrea Zhu Four decades ago, a transnational network of advocates took on the world’s largest development institution. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, coalitions of civil... [ More ]
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Data Spotlight: The Strait of Hormuz Crisis and Chinese-Financed Power Plants in Asia
July 06, 2026By William Olichney The Strait of Hormuz crisis, causing the largest ever disruption to global oil markets, has created an unprecedented challenge to Asia’s energy security. [ More ]
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Is there a development quid pro quo? China’s development finance and mineral access in Africa
June 15, 2026By Congyi Dai Minerals are the main inputs needed for manufacturing clean energy technologies such as lithium-ion batteries, solar photovoltaic panels, electric vehicles and wind turbines. [ More ]
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Brokers on the Ground: Chinese Commercial Creditors’ Entry into Africa Sovereign Development Finance
May 29, 2026By Tianyi Wu The portfolio of financiers participating in China's overseas development finance is changing. Between 2000 and 2019, development finance institutions (DFIs), primarily the Export-Import... [ More ]
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The Growth Connections Between China and the Global South: A Review and a Refocus
May 26, 2026As late as 1984, half of China’s exports consisted of raw materials, including oil, coal, food and livestock. After 47 years of reform and opening, [ More ]
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What New Data Reveals About China-Africa Economic Ties
May 20, 2026By Mengdi Yue China and Africa’s economic relationship has continued to evolve over the last decade. Recent milestones include the ten partnership actions announced at the... [ More ]
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China-Africa Economic Bulletin, 2026 Edition
May 20, 2026A series of concurrent shocks have posed significant challenges to the African continent, including the recent global pullback by the US whose effects fall disproportionately... [ More ]
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How Can China’s Debt Sustainability Analysis Better Serve Global South’s Development Goals?
May 14, 2026By Tianyi Wu The current debt and development crisis in the Global South has resurfaced a long-standing tension in sovereign development finance: do tools designed to... [ More ]