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CIAO Focus, April 2012: China's Foreign Aid

As China's economy expanded in recent decades, there has been a corresponding rise in the amount of foreign assistance it offers to the developing world. In particular, China increased aid to countries in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Some of China's methods and objectives are controversial with the international aid community. Critics accuse China of frequently following a "mercantilist" strategy in using aid and loans in order to secure natural resources such as oil and raw materials. One commentator went so far as to describe Chinese aid as "rogue aid," because it is driven by self-interest and not what is best for the developing world.In remarks widely interpreted as aimed at China, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently warned countries to be "wary of donors who are more interested in extracting your resources than in building your capacity."Added to these feelings, China treats the methodology of its aid as a competitive asset and has sought to distance itself from international efforts at creating a cooperative framework for foreign assistance. In spite of this, since the second term of the Bush administration, the United States has sought to engage with China on international development. This includes high-level meetings between the heads of China's foreign aid bureaucracy and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as on-the-ground attempts to find common ground on development.

--Center for Strategic and International Studies

 

From the CIAO Database:

China and Afghanistan: China's Interests, Stances, and Perspectives

U.S.-China Parallel Development Assistance Goals

Chinese Investment in Latin American Resources: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

China's New Courtship in South Sudan

The unbalanced dragon: China's uneven provincial and regional FDI performance

Is Chinese FDI pushing Latin America into natural resources?

Cooperating with China in Africa

 

Outside Sources: *

Chinese Development Aid in Africa What, where, why, and how much?

Global Development Aid from China on the Rise (Voice of America)

China's Foreign Aid Activities in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia (Congressional Research Service)

China's Foreign Aid (Information Office of the State Council)

Going Out: An Overview of China's Outward Foreign Direct Investment (U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission)

* Outside links are not maintained. For broken outside links, CIAO recommends the Way Back Machine.