
Cambodia: Chinese Development Finance Profile, 2000-2022
Date Published
Oct 10, 2025
Authors
JulieAnn Sickell, Brooke Escobar
Publisher
Citation
Sickell, J. and Escobar, B. (2025). Cambodia: The Scale, Scope, and Composition of Chinese Development Finance. Williamsburg, VA: AidData at William & Mary.
Abstract
This country profile of Cambodia provides a detailed overview of the scale, scope, and composition of Chinese state-directed financing to Cambodia between 2000 and 2022. It includes granular information on key trends in China’s loan and grant-financed commitments, its lending portfolio, ESG risks in its infrastructure projects, and contractual safeguards adoption and implementation.
Between 2000 and 2022, China has directed $18.3 billion in loan and grant-financed commitments and 418 projects to the Kingdom of Cambodia. In 2010, China and Cambodia established a comprehensive strategic partnership, marking a major turning point in China’s relationship with the country, as demonstrated by the $2.9 billion in aid and non-concessional loan commitments that year. For China, Cambodia has proved to be a strategic ally and cooperation partner in the Asia-Pacific, increasingly in the 2010s and 2020s, as highlighted by its development finance directed to the country.
The insights in this profile are derived from AidData’s Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset, Version 3.0, and the sources referenced therein. Additional 2022 data collection is based on a forthcoming dataset version launching later this year.