Zambia: Chinese Development Finance Profile, 2000-2022
Date Published
Oct 10, 2025
Authors
Lea Thome, Brooke Escobar
Publisher
Citation
Thome, L. and Escobar, B. (2025). Zambia: 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 Zambia 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 $13.9 billion in loan and grant-financed commitments for 245 projects in Zambia. Breaking with previous administrations, the strong pro-China stance that former President Lungu took when he ascended to office in 2015 was associated with a sharp increase in new commitments from China, with at least $2 billion in new commitments annually from 2016-2018. Since 2019, financing has since declined.
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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