China’s Overseas Lending

Compared with China’s pre-eminent status in world trade, its role in global finance is poorly understood. This paper studies the size, characteristics, and determinants of China’s capital exports building a new database of 5000 loans and grants to 152 countries, 1949-2017. We find that 50% of China’s lending to developing countries is not reported to the IMF or World Bank. These “hidden debts” distort policy surveillance, risk pricing, and debt sustainability analyses. Since China’s overseas lending is almost entirely official (state-controlled), the standard “push” and “pull” drivers of private cross-border flows do not apply in the same way.

To join the lecture please use this Zoom link:

https://uni-goettingen.zoom.us/j/92000859579

_{Data security: Please note that the University of Göttingen is responsible for the technical execution of the meeting. For more info please check their respective privacy policy.
​​​​​​​„Zoom“ is used to conduct this online meeting. „Zoom“ is a service by a provider from the USA. A processing of the personal data is therefore also carried out in a third country. For further information please refer to the Zoom Privacy Policy.}