How China’s $1.34 trln loan to developing countries moved from bridges to bailouts

According to a report by U.S. researchers at AidData, Chinese financial institutions lent $1.34 trillion to developing nations between 2000 and 2021, demonstrating the shift from infrastructure to rescue lending by the largest bilateral lender in the world. China committed to almost $80 billion in loans and grants in 2021, despite the fact that lending commitments peaked at nearly $136 billion in 2016. The data, which includes nearly 21,000 projects in 165 low- and middle-income countries, is likely the most comprehensive of its kind. Beijing has gained allies throughout the developing world thanks to overseas financing, but it has also…