South_Sudan: Chinese Development Finance Profile, 2000-2022

This country profile of South Sudan provides a detailed overview of the scale, scope, and composition of Chinese state-directed financing to South Sudan 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 $5.6 billion in loan and grant-financed commitments and 171 projects to South Sudan. Before South Sudan joined the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2018, nearly all (99%) of its financial flows from China (2013–2017) came through commodity prepayment arrangements, however since 2018, China’s portfolio has shifted toward infrastructure development, including major projects like the construction of the Juba-Terekeka-Yirol-Rumbek Road. 

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.