South Africa: Chinese Development Finance Profile, 2000-2022
Date Published
Oct 10, 2025
Authors
Lea Thome, Brooke Escobar
Publisher
Citation
Thome, L. and Escobar, B. (2025). South Africa: The Scale, Scope, and Composition of Chinese Development Finance. Williamsburg, VA: AidData at William & Mary.
Abstract
This country profile provides a detailed overview of the scale, scope, and composition of Chinese state-directed financing in South Africa from 2000 to 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.
From 2000 to 2022, China directed $22.1 billion in loan and grant-financed commitments for 332 projects in South Africa. While China provided $4.4 billion in aid between 2017 and 2018, the lion’s share of its portfolio, around $15.9 billion, came in the form of non-concessional financing. These funds primarily supported the commercial activities of South African corporations—with this distinctive focus setting South Africa apart from other African recipients of Chinese development finance.
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 in November 2025.
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