Bilateral donors use foreign aid to pursue soft power. We test the effectiveness of aid in reaching this goal by leveraging a new dataset on the precise commitment, implementation, and completion dates of Chinese development projects. We use data...

This paper introduces a new dataset of official financing — including foreign aid and other forms of concessional and non-concessional state financing

The research project studies the effects that China’s growing economic engagement has on African economies, and how China’s economic presence is perceived by African citizens. To this effect, the key dimensions of trade, investment, aid, debt, and...

… Our statistical results suggest that ties between Chinese provinces and their counterparts around the globe, such as U.S. states, helped secure commercial exports and donations of medical equipment. First, Chinese provinces seem to have...

During the peak phase of the corona pandemic, Chinese exports of critical medical goods such as protective masks went primarily to economic and political partners. Chinese companies were able to push through drastic price increases against...

Kiel Policy Brief No. 146: China assumed an important role during the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 as the main exporter of critical medical goods such as face masks and disinfectants.

China’s rapidly growing economic activities are visible across the African continent in its bilateral trade, investment overseas, development aid activities, and migratory pattern. China has, for example, quickly evolved from being an aid recipient...

Trade relations between Africa and Asia, especially China, increase the prosperity of African countries. This is because they have been able to increase the value added of their exports and also export more to the rest of the world. Moreover in many...

Chinese aid comes with few strings attached, allowing recipient country leaders to use it for domestic political purposes. The vulnerability of Chinese

Little is known about the firm-level dynamics behind trade responses to political tensions. This article reinvestigates variation in the travel pattern