Find Out Some (But Not All) The Secrets Of China's Foreign Aid
For a long time, China's foreign aid spending was best described in the words of Winston Churchill: "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." The country withholds information from the public because it is considered a state secret.
China joins countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela who collectively spend billions of dollars on overseas development each year but provide little to no information about where the money goes.
A new report lifts the shroud of secrecy.
What did we learn about Chinese development spending?
The report, published by AidData a research lab based at the College of William & Mary, finds that China spent $362.1 billion over the 15-year period from 2000 to 2014 â a figure approaching the $424.3 billion spent by the U.S. over that same time frame. In fact, China now outspends the U.S. on an annual basis.
The new data shows that Chinese funds went to more than 4,300 projects in 140 countries
