Day: September 14, 2020
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Chinese Development Finance is Changing. We Just Don’t Know Exactly How.
A lively discussion broke out over the weekend about Boston University's new Chinese overseas development finance database and whether the dramatic plunge in lending that purportedly took place last year is accurate. Some scholars are suggesting that BU's data
Related Posts
Researchers Challenge Boston University’s “Porous Dataset” That Purportedly Showed a Plunge in Chinese Overseas Lending
A pair of researchers from Central Asia are questioning the findings of a new dataset produced by Boston University's Global Development Policy Center (GDPC) which purportedly shows a sharp drop in Chinese overseas lending. Among the key ...
Report: China Lacks Comprehensive Debt Relief Strategy
A new report by the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF) at the Central University of Economics and Finance in Beijing appears to echo some of the same themes that emerged from Boston University's Overseas Chinese Lending Database, specifically related to an apparent sharp decline ...
Chinese Debt Relief in Africa Definitely Helps in the Short Term, But in the Long Term? Hard to Tell Says New Analysis
Although China's debt relief efforts are often downplayed by many of its critics in the U.S. and EU, the fact is that Beijing's done more to renegotiate and cancel loans to African countries during the current financial crisis than it has previously:
Chinese Private Sector Engagement in Africa is Going to be Much More Important in 2021 And Beyond
Over the past several weeks, Chinese officials have convened a series of high profile forums with key African stakeholders in what appears to be an effort to lay the groundwork for next year's triennial Forum on China Africa Cooperation Summit (FOCAC) that is scheduled to take place ...
Chinese ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng together with Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen mark the first shipment of stone fruit to China that will enter the market duty-free. Image via @SAgovnews
In a message to African heads of state gathered in Addis Ababa for the African Union's 39th summit last February, Xi Jinping announced that beginning May 1st, China would implement a “zero tariff” policy for the 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations. The message was clear. The African ...
Africa’s Major Economies Sinking Under the Weight of Surging Debt, Reduced Trade, and Massive New Social Welfare Costs
The economic fundamentals in a growing number of Africa's major economies are showing signs of rapid deterioration amid the ongoing economic crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Seemingly every week there's a new downgrade, analyst warning, or economic indicator that points to an increasingly dire situation ...
China’s New Ambassador to Kenya Makes the Rounds
Given China's extensive involvement in building transportation infrastructure in Kenya, it's not surprising that Chief Secretary James Macharia was high on the list of key cabinet stakeholders to meet, as the newly-arrived Chinese ambassador, Zhou Pingjiang, settles into his new role. ...
The Chinese Embassy in Harare Responds to Zimbabwe’s National Park Mining Ban
The Chinese embassy in Harare responded late last week to the Zimbabwean government's surprise decision to ban all mining activities in the country's five national parks and in most river beds. Although Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa did not mention China by name when announcing the ...
A New China-Ethiopia Venture is Now Producing COVID-19 Test Kits
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed toured a new Chinese-Ethiopian joint venture on Sunday that will be able to produce up to 10 million COVID-19 test kits per year. The new test kits will be used to help mitigate the spread of the virus domestically and will ...
More Unsubstantiated Reports of Chinese Troop Deployments to Africa
Longstanding fears of Chinese troop deployments to Namibia resurfaced last week when a legislator claimed, without evidence, that 3,500 Chinese soldiers are currently in the country. Defense Minister Peter Hafeni Vilho didn't help matters when he refused to comment on the ...
Chinese Port-building Along the BRI: “There’s a Lot More Than Meets the Eye”
Daniel R. Russel and Blake Berger, two scholars at the New York-based Asia Society Policy Institute, have published a new report that looks at the broad security implications of China's Belt and Road Initiative. Although Chinese officials have long maintained that ...
Taiwan’s New Rep Office in Somaliland Opens Twitter Account
If you'd like to follow what's going on at Taiwan's newly-opened representative office in the Horn of Africa in Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared state of Somaliland, you can do so on their equally new Twitter account. Follow "Taiwan In Somaliland" ...
Developing Countries Have Had Enough of the U.S.-China Feud
The prevailing narrative among large swathes of the conservative media in the United States is that Washington and Beijing are now engaged in a new "Cold War." U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in fact, suggests that the current confrontation with China is actually even ...