China's spending on global development projects is approaching $1 trillion since the turn of the century, making Beijing one of the world's most sought-after financiers. Over an 18-year-period beginning in 2000, China spent at least $843 billion on more than 13,000 projects across 165 countries, according to a database by the AidData research lab at William & Mary, a public university in Virginia.
The AidData research aims to shed light on China's often opaque grant giving and lending activities in low- and middle-income countries. The data shows China significantly increased its spending on international development projects since launching its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, and until commitment year 2017, outspent the United States and other major powers by a scale of 2-1 or more.
Instructions: Explore the data by clicking on any link or country on the map. Scroll down to see the projects sorted by sector and year. Click on any year to find detailed profiles of all projects.
CHINA'S DEVELOPMENT SPENDING BY REGION
Asia (2,801 Projects): $245,666,000,000
Africa (5,152): $207,386,000,000
Americas (1,284): $192,142,000,000
Europe (521): $150,232,000,000
Middle East (340): $36,231,000,000
Oceania (726): $11,136,000,000
Multi-Region (25): $100,000,000
China's development spending by sector
Projects are classified according to their primary focus.
Industry, Mining and Construction (547 Projects): $254,249,000,000
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Energy (867): $209,648,000,000
Transport and Storage (1,003): $122,390,000,000
Other Multisector (194): $80,883,000,000
Communications (492): $40,981,000,000
Budget Support (49): $26,473,000,000
Social Infrastructure (749): $20,145,000,000
Action Relating to Debt (226): $19,763,000,000
Banking and Financial Services (103): $13,323,000,000
Water Supply and Sanitation (263): $10,823,000,000
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (601): $8,207,000,000
Government and Civil Society (1,257): $7,270,000,000
Trade Policies and Regulations (89): $6,741,000,000
Health (1,448): $5,644,000,000
Education (1,691): $4,887,000,000
Business and Other Services (75): $3,948,000,000
Unallocated/Unspecified (71): $2,887,000,000
Commodity Assistance (34): $1,687,000,000
Emergency Response (843): $1,624,000,000
Food Aid Assistance (146): $1,013,000,000
Environmental Protection (61): $173,000,000
Reconstruction Relief (25): $125,000,000
Disaster Preparedness (8): $11,000,000
Population Programs and Reproductive Health (7): $2,000,000
All U.S. dollar amounts in the database are listed in inflation-adjusted 2017 values so that projects can be compared over time. Dollars are rounded to the nearest million.
Projects are classified according to their primary focus. Sector categories are based on a classification system from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.