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CHN · Outside the OECD ledger

Chinese development finance

China does not report to the OECD, so none of this appears anywhere else in these pages. AidData reconstructs it from contracts, media and debtor records instead.

$60.7bn committed 2000–2021
$15.5bn of it aid-like
1041 projects

Why these numbers are not a league table

It is tempting to set the figure above beside the OECD total and call one bigger. Three things make that wrong:

  • Commitments, not disbursements. A commitment is money agreed. The OECD pages count money that actually left the donor. A single large loan lands here entirely in the year it was signed.
  • Mostly not aid. Only $15.5bn of the total is aid-like. The rest is commercial or near-commercial lending, which the OECD would classify as other official flows and exclude from ODA entirely.
  • Different dollars. These are constant 2021 prices; the OECD figures on the other pages are current prices.

For reference only, and not a like-for-like comparison: OECD ODA disbursements to the same sixteen countries totalled $265.5bn across 2000–2022.

What kind of finance

AidData classifies every project by how concessional it is. This split is the single most important thing on the page.

$41.6bn OOF-like 192 projects
$15.5bn ODA-like 816 projects
$3.6bn Vague (Official Finance) 33 projects

Commitments by year

Spikier than an aid series by construction: one signed loan can carry a whole year.

$0.00m$1.9bn$3.7bn$5.6bn$7.4bn20002004200820122016202020212000: $212m2000: $212m2001: $511m2001: $511m2002: $1.3bn2002: $1.3bn2003: $132m2003: $132m2004: $201m2004: $201m2005: $528m2005: $528m2006: $1.1bn2006: $1.1bn2007: $1.5bn2007: $1.5bn2008: $3.2bn2008: $3.2bn2009: $1.3bn2009: $1.3bn2010: $2.8bn2010: $2.8bn2011: $1.4bn2011: $1.4bn2012: $5.2bn2012: $5.2bn2013: $5.5bn2013: $5.5bn2014: $2.4bn2014: $2.4bn2015: $3.0bn2015: $3.0bn2016: $2.3bn2016: $2.3bn2017: $4.3bn2017: $4.3bn2018: $6.9bn2018: $6.9bn2019: $6.4bn2019: $6.4bn2020: $6.1bn2020: $6.1bn2021: $4.4bn2021: $4.4bn
Chinese commitments to West Africa USD millions, constant 2021

Which countries

Nigeria: $14.7bnNigeria$14.7bnGhana: $10.4bnGhana$10.4bnCote d'Ivoire: $7.3bnCote d'Ivoire$7.3bnGuinea: $5.3bnGuinea$5.3bnSierra Leone: $5.0bnSierra Leone$5.0bnSenegal: $4.1bnSenegal$4.1bnNiger: $3.8bnNiger$3.8bnBenin: $2.6bnBenin$2.6bnMali: $1.8bnMali$1.8bnMauritania: $1.6bnMauritania$1.6bnTogo: $1.5bnTogo$1.5bnLiberia: $1.1bnLiberia$1.1bnCabo Verde: $498mCabo Verde$498mBurkina Faso: $447mBurkina Faso$447mGuinea-Bissau: $301mGuinea-Bissau$301mGambia: $214mGambia$214m
By recipient USD millions, constant 2021

Which sectors

Where DAC2A can only give a country total, this dataset names the sector.

Transport And Storage: $16.0bnTransport And Storage$16.0bnEnergy: $15.0bnEnergy$15.0bnIndustry, Mining, Construction: $9.3bnIndustry, Mining, Construction$9.3bnCommunications: $5.1bnCommunications$5.1bnAgriculture, Forestry, Fishing: $2.8bnAgriculture, Forestry, Fishing$2.8bnGovernment And Civil Society: $2.4bnGovernment And Civil Society$2.4bnWater Supply And Sanitation: $1.9bnWater Supply And Sanitation$1.9bnOther Social Infrastructure And Services: $1.7bnOther Social Infrastructure And…$1.7bn
By sector USD millions, constant 2021

Which institutions

Chinese finance is concentrated in a small number of policy and commercial banks rather than an aid agency.

Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank): $29.0bnExport-Import Bank of China (Ch…$29.0bnChina Development Bank (CDB): $9.5bnChina Development Bank (CDB)$9.5bnIndustrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC): $6.0bnIndustrial and Commercial Bank …$6.0bnChina Ministry of Commerce: $5.3bnChina Ministry of Commerce$5.3bnBank of China (BOC): $4.0bnBank of China (BOC)$4.0bnCNPC Finance (HK) Limited: $2.3bnCNPC Finance (HK) Limited$2.3bnUnspecified Chinese Government Institution: $1.4bnUnspecified Chinese Government …$1.4bnPeople's Bank of China (PBC): $908mPeople's Bank of China (PBC)$908m
By financing institution USD millions, constant 2021

Grants and loans

$54.6bn Loan 320 projects
$5.9bn Grant 715 projects
$142m Vague 6 projects

Source Custer, S., Dreher, A., Elston, T.B., Escobar, B., Fedorochko, R., Fuchs, A., Ghose, S., Lin, J., Malik, A., Parks, B.C., Solomon, K., Strange, A., Tierney, M.J., Vlasto, L., Walsh, K., Wang, F., Zaleski, L., and Zhang, S. 2023. Tracking Chinese Development Finance: An Application of AidData's TUFF 3.0 Methodology. Williamsburg, VA: AidData at William & Mary.

Retrieved 2026-08-01. Licence: ODC-BY 1.0 — attribution to AidData required. Amounts are adjusted commitments in constant 2021 US dollars. Cancelled and suspended projects and pledges are excluded, and only records AidData marks as suitable for aggregation are counted.

These are commitments reconstructed by researchers from contracts, media and debtor records — not figures reported by the financier. A recorded commitment is not evidence that funds were disbursed, spent, or produced any outcome.

AidData, William & Mary