Hosted by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, join AidData's executive director Bradley Parks and Jörg Wuttke, a partner with DGA Group/Albright Stonebridge Group and former President of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, for an engaging conversation with Paulina Alibhai, a researcher at the Kiel Institute.

They'll discuss what drives China’s growing financial engagement in advanced economies, as well as the opportunities—and risks—for businesses and strategically important sectors. How are Western governments adapting their own financing policies in response to China? And is Beijing effectively reshaping the rules of global finance?

This event will take place online in English from 16:00-17:00 CET / 10-11 AM EST on November 5th, 2026.

Pre-read

As the world’s largest official creditor, China’s global lending extends far beyond the widely perceived image of financing infrastructure in developing countries. According to new research by AidData, Chinese official sector institutions provided nearly 1 trillion US dollars in loans and grants to high-income countries between 2000 and 2023. This amounted to nearly 45% of the total value of Chinese lending and grants worldwide in this period. In addition to providing corporate loans in advanced economies, Chinese state-owned banks have financed infrastructure projects there and increasingly supported Chinese companies in acquiring foreign firms. This acquisition financing has increasingly focused on sensitive sectors, whose share rose from 46% in 2015, when Made in China 2025 was launched, to 88% in 2023.

Related literature

Parks, B.C. (2025), China’s financial tentacles run deeper through America than previously thought, The Economist, Nov. 18, 2025. https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2025/11/18/chinas-financial-tentacles-run-deeper-through-america-than-previously-thought

Parks, B. C., Zhang, S., Escobar, B., Walsh, K., Fedorochko, R., Vlasto, L., Zimmerman, J., Sickell, J., Bury, E., Joshi, A., Thome, L., Pandey, O., & Raja Manuri, V. P. R. (2025), Chasing China: Learning to Play by Beijing's Global Lending Rules. Williamsburg, VA: AidData at William & Mary https://www.aiddata.org/publications/chasing-china

Related documentary: BBC (2025), Britain and China: Following the Money, https://www.aiddata.org/in-the-news/britain-and-china-following-the-money.