In January, China published a blueprint for how it plans to become one of the world’s leading countries in international development. The white paper on “China’s International’s Development Cooperation in the New Era” released by the State Council updates two previous strategy documents and outlines Beijing’s ambitious plans to overhaul its current, rather limited, aid and development initiatives around the world.

But the paper also makes it clear that the Chinese don’t have any plans to conform their new aid agenda to those of Western-led international organizations and donor states. Instead, the new strategy talks about new “diverse forms” of aid and the integration of China’s development policies with other initiatives like the Belt and Road.

The timing of this new aid plan is also critical as many of those traditional donors are under mounting pressure to cut their foreign aid budgets — the implications of what the Chinese say they want to do could be significant for Africa and other developing regions.

Stella Hong Zhang, a PhD candidate at George Mason University in the United States, is among the world’s leading experts on Chinese international aid and development. She described the new white paper as a “landmark document” and joins Eric & Cobus to discuss why she feels it’s so important.

Show Notes:

• Dev Policy Blog: Insights on China’s 2021 white paper on international development cooperation by Anthea Mulakala and Hongbo Ji
• Overseas Development Institute: How China’s new white paper defines a decade of development cooperation by Yunnan Chen , Linda Calabrese and Barnaby Willitts-King
• The Diplomat: What Does a New White Paper Tell Us About China’s International Aid? by Zhang Chao and Tang Yuxuan

About Stella Hong Zhang:

Stella Hong Zhang is a PhD candidate in Public Policy at George Mason University. Her research interest includes Chinese political economy and international development engagements. Prior to her academic career she worked as a reporter with China’s Caixin Media.