Few policymakers in the developing world trust China’s advice despite the billions it has poured into some of the poorest countries to curry favour in recent years, according to a new survey that points to the limitations of Beijing’s efforts to project “soft power”.
Between 2000 and 2013 China provided almost $95bn in aid and other official financing to Africa alone, according to research compiled by AidData, a US-based research project that tracks flows of development assistance around the world.
However, Beijing’s three main conduits for that money and related policy advice — the China Development Bank, the China Export-Import Bank and its local embassies — appear to struggle with credibility issues in the countries they target.