South_Africa: Chinese Development Finance Profile, 2000-2022

This country profile of South Africa provides a detailed overview of the scale, scope, and composition of Chinese state-directed financing to South Africa 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 $22.1 billion in loan and grant-financed commitments and 332 projects to the Republic of 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, comes in the form of non-concessional financing. These funds primarily support 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 later this year.

‍