Chinese development aid to Asia: Size and motives
| DOI | 10.1177/2057891119836521 |
| Published date | 01 September 2020 |
| Date | 01 September 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Research articles |
Research article
Chinese development aid
to Asia: Size and motives
Yoon Ah Oh
Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, South Korea
Abstract
This research note empirically examines China’s development assistance to Asia, a region critical
to China’s geostrategic ambition, from 2000 to 2014. It uses AidData’s Global Chinese Official
Finance Dataset, one of the most reliable publicly available data sources on Chinese aid, which
systematically collects and classifies different types of China’s official development finance. It is
found that, despite a recent surge, China’s development assistance to Asia remains highly limited
compared to that of Japan, Asia’s top donor, and that the economic sectors of energy, transport,
and mining dominate financial flows. Econometric analysis results suggest that China’s aid allocation
in Asia is influenced by its export relations, but, more importantly, that foreign policy con-
siderations do not play a significant role, which is in contrast to the findings of recent work on
Chinese aid to Africa. The results suggest that better measures may be needed to properly capture
China’s strategic interests in Asia, including its involvement in the territorial dispute in the South
China Sea.
Keywords
aid, Asia, China, foreign policy interests, motives
Introduction
China’s rapid economic growth in the past decades has led to a significant expansion of its overseas
development finance. The increase in the country’s development financing has created significant
interest as well as alarm among policy makers and academics in the field of international devel-
opment. Common perceptions in media reports and policy debate are that China allocates devel-
opment finance for commercial purposes, that it uses aid to secure access to natural resources and
to support Chinese companies for overseas investment opportunities, as well as for strategic
purposes to promote its geostrategic interests (Economist, 2008; Naim, 2007). Critics have argued
that Chinese aid has serious, damaging consequences for recipient countries. China’s aid programs
Corresponding author:
Yoon Ah Oh, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, Sicheong-daero, 30147 Sejong, South Korea.
Email: yoonah.oh@gmail.com
Asian Journal of Comparative Politics
2020, Vol. 5(3) 223–234
ªThe Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/2057891119836521
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