Unveiled by Xi Jinping in a speech at the UN General Assembly in September 2021, the Global Development Initiative outlines China’s vision to be a leader in global development efforts. The initiative aims to support developing countries in poverty alleviation, public health, and other issues, but has also sparked questions about its impact on the more well-established Belt and Road Initiative. A year on, has the GDI been implemented? How does it fit into China’s broader strategy of extending its influence globally?

AidData's Director of Policy Analysis Samantha Custer joined the CSIS Interpret: China project for a panel discussion of the Global Development Initiative, alongside other leading experts who leveraged newly translated Chinese language documents to unpack this topic. The expert panel featured remarks from Deborah Brautigam, director of China-Africa Research Initiative and Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy, Johns Hopkins University SAIS, Anthea Mulakala, senior director for international development cooperation at The Asia Foundation, and Joseph Asunka, CEO of Afrobarometer. The discussion was moderated by Jude Blanchette, Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS.