Analysis
Diverse voices, unique insights on key issues shaping China’s engagement throughout the Global South.
analysis
Ukraine Shows That China is Not Yet Ready to Head an Alternative World Order
By Lukas Fiala, Hugo Jones, and Chris Alden Russia’s steadily escalating war in Ukraine has shocked Europe’s post-Cold War security order to its core. Over the past week, we saw China’s party-state kicking into gear as ambassadors and spokespersons increasingly
When It Comes to Security in Africa, the U.S. and China Have More in Common Than Many Think
The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee is currently hearing testimony from U.S. generals about U.S.-led security in the Middle East and Africa. Not surprisingly, the hearings are portraying China’s African priorities as opposed in all respects to those of the United States. However, there may ...
Outlier or New Normal? Trends from the 2022 China’s Global Energy Finance Database Update
By Cecilia Han Springer 2021 saw persistent economic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, narrowing borrowing capacities in developing countries, and a global trend towards phasing out coal. These factors converged in a shocking finding from the 2022 release of the China Global Energy Finance (CGEF) Database, managed ...
The Only Way is South
Earlier this week, we highlighted a tweet from the Africa News journalist Ronald Kato: “Can safely argue at this point that the recent EU-Africa summit was a waste of time. The Global Gway is dead.”
China Moly’s CEO is Back in the DRC For a Visit That Raises More Questions Than Answers
Sun Ruiwen, the powerful CEO of mining giant China Molybdnenum (aka China Moly) was back in Kinshasa this week for a low-profile visit with DR Congo Prime Minister Sama Lukonde. China Moly operates the Tenke Fungurume (TFM) mine, one ...
Human Rights in a New Geopolitical Order
China’s abstention from the UN vote to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, together with India and almost half of Africa, was a reminder that despite all the pro-Ukraine sentiment on Western social media, the global bulwark against Russia is pretty leaky. Rama Yade, the Senegalese-born former French ...
Data Analysis for Transparency and Accountability in China’s Overseas Economic Activity
The Global China Initiative (GCI) at the Boston University Global Development Policy (GDP) Center manages five open-source databases tracking Chinese overseas development finance and investments. Through these databases, GCI aims to provide transparent data to aid the public, including policymakers, journalists, academic researchers, civil society, and others, ...
Bienvenue à Le Projet Afrique Chine en français
The China-Africa discourse today is richer and far more nuanced than it was in 2010 when Cobus and I launched CAP. But there's still a long way to go, as shown by the stubborn simplistic narratives that keep framing the relationship in terms of debt traps and ...
Can Beijing Get Away With Hedging in Ukraine?
By Lukas Fiala Horrific images and stories of violence and destruction have reached us from Ukraine this week as Russia’s invasion is rapidly turning into a massive humanitarian crisis. While all eyes are rightfully on Ukrainians’ brave resistance, the human suffering ...
Why Did 25 African Countries Sidestep the UN’s Vote on Ukraine?
The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to censure Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The majority of African countries were part of the 141 states demanding an end to Russian aggression. Only one African country (Eritrea) joined Russia, Belarus, Syria and North ...
Is China’s Lending Particularly “Aggressive”?
Amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and the bleakest prognosis on climate change yet, you may have missed the ongoing saga of Uganda’s Entebbe Airport. A quick recap: Uganda loaned $325 million from China Exim Bank to upgrade the airport. ...
The Shanghai Model: A Potential Solution for Debt Distressed Countries?
By Ying Qian At this year’s first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, members issued a communiqué highlighting the unevenness of the global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Among many factors, debt distress and increased commodity ...