The First Tranche

Out of public sight, China’s state-backed lenders secure priority repayment from emerging economies with cash collateral New report and cache of Chinese debt contracts reveal that the commodity export revenues of developing countries are routed to offshore bank accounts, raising fiscal governance and debt transparency concerns.

China’s expanding investments in Indonesia force both to balance risk and reward From footnote to headline, Beijing has become Indonesia’s most significant source of development finance and FDI, giving it outsized economic clout and political leverage. Samantha Custer and Samuel Gruber

Entre China y Taiwán, el concurso por aliados latinoamericanos Siete de los doce aliados diplomáticos que aún tiene Taiwán están en América Latina. En vez de preguntarnos por qué Taiwán ha perdido algunos de sus aliados, deberíamos considerar: ¿por qué aún no los ha perdido a todos? Por Bryan Burgess, traducido por Sarina Patterson

Learning through play: Exploring identity and economics with "Capital & The Other" AidData experts piloted an innovative board game to help learners investigate how complex social issues can affect economic opportunities. AidData Staff

Competition continues between China and Taiwan for Latin American allies Seven of Taiwan’s remaining twelve diplomatic allies are in the Americas: rather than asking why Taiwan has lost some of its diplomatic allies, we should consider why it has not yet lost all of them. Bryan Burgess

How China is financing its domestic shipbuilding and vessel acquisition industry As Beijing leads in building commercial and military ships worldwide, it is using development finance as a tool to export its ships to low- and middle-income countries. Lea Thome

Can AI help beat poverty? Perhaps with the help of humans AidData research is exploring how AI approaches can extend the reach of survey data and power better evaluations of development programs. Ariel BenYishay

As development finance shifts, AidData event explores Indo-Pacific prospects for aid and credit deals Experts in international development finance from the public sector and academia shared insights at a panel discussion in Washington, D.C. Sarina Patterson

Global South leaders from 148 countries reflect on a changing development landscape A new AidData report leverages ten years of surveys to understand how development partnership has evolved over a decade. Samantha Custer, Ana Horigoshi, Bentje Boer, and Kelsey Marshall

Mapping the future of climate-smart agriculture with geospatial impact evaluations A GeoField workshop at William & Mary brought together leading experts in impact evaluations and sustainable agriculture to share use cases and collaborate on a groundbreaking textbook. Wanqi (Angie) Zhu

How can Angola leverage its position effectively amid U.S.-China competition in Africa? With America’s commitment to foreign aid now uncertain, the future of the Lobito Corridor, an ambitious U.S.-backed infrastructure initiative, hangs in the balance. Angola had pivoted toward the U.S. and away from China—where will it go now? Ameya Joshi

Chasing copper and cobalt: China’s mining operations in Peru and the DRC As Beijing employs a global playbook to secure access to transition minerals, two countries of focus for its development finance portfolio have emerged: Peru and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lea Thome, Katherine Walsh, Jacqueline Zimmerman, and Brooke Escobar