Chinese overseas development aid and finance remains something of a mystery to many outside observers. The opacity of the Chinese system, combined with large language and cultural differences often lead international stakeholders to complain that it’s difficult to distinguish between Chinese aid, concessional financing, and market-based lending/investments.
The French development agency, Agence Française de Développement, recently tackled the issue by inviting two of the world’s leading experts in the field, Agatha Kratz, Associate Director at the New York-based Rhodium Group, and Marina Rudyak, a researcher at the Institute for Chinese Studies at Heidelberg University, to open the proverbial “black box” that is Chinese development aid and finance.
