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
Subscribe to the Global China Newsletter 订阅“中国与全球发展项目”定期中文邮件更新-
Why Development Finance Falls Short—and How It Can Better Serve the Global South
December 17, 2025By Zheng Zhai and Kevin P. Gallagher Countries across the Global South need a stepwise increase in investment to improve the well-being of their population and... [ More ]
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Green Growth or Commodity Dependence? The LAC-China Relationship in 2025
December 15, 2025By Rebecca Ray In 2024, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) had a record trade deficit with China, amounting to 1.4 percent of regional GDP. At... [ More ]
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China-Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Bulletin, 2025 Edition
November 25, 2025In 2024, China’s relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) continued to grow, especially in the emerging sectors of renewable energy, energy transition minerals... [ More ]
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How Has China Helped the Green Transformation Along the Belt and Road: Four Channels
November 24, 2025By Yan Wang As the deadline for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) draws near, the world economy faces headwinds from trade protections, supply-chain disruptions... [ More ]
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Greening the Belt and Road with Four Underlying Mechanisms
November 24, 2025With five years to go before the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) deadline, official statements have stressed that only 18 percent of the targets are on... [ More ]
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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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Selective Engagement and Strategic Retooling: Chinese Loans to Africa Database, 2000–2024
November 13, 2025A new update to the Chinese Loans to Africa (CLA) Database, managed by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center, estimates that from 2000-2024, Chinese... [ 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 ]