Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset, Version 3.0

Data source: AidData

Description:

The dataset captures 20,985 projects across 165 low- and middle-income countries supported by loans and grants from official sector institutions in China worth $1.34 trillion. It tracks projects over 22 commitment years (2000-2021) and provides details on the timing of project implementation over a 24-year period (2000-2023).

For the inclusion of the data in the QoG datasets, the data is transformed and variables are selected.

The original dataset is at the commitment level and has more information about each commitment; this dataset is available at https://www.aiddata.org/data/aiddatas-global-chinese-development-finance-dataset-version-3-0

Last updated by source: 2023-11-06

Dataset type:	Time-Series
Dataset level:	Contract

Citation:

When using this dataset, please cite as:

    @misc{gcdf1,
 author = {S. Custer and A. Dreher and T.B. Elston and B. Escobar and R. Fedorochko and A. Fuchs and S. Ghose and J. Lin and A. Malik and B.C. Parks and K. Solomon and A. Strange and M.J. Tierney and L. Vlasto and K. Walsh and F. Wang and L. Zaleski and S. Zhang},
 institution = {Williamsburg, VA. AidData at Willian \& Mary},
 last_updated = {2025-12-27},
 title = {{Tracking Chinese Development Finance: An Application of AidData’s TUFF 3.0 Methodology}},
 year = {2023}
}

@misc{gcdf2,
 author = {Dreher, A. and A. Fuchs and B.C. Parks and A. Strange and M.J. Tierney},
 last_updated = {2025-12-27},
 publisher = {Cambridge, UK. Cambridge University Press},
 title = {{Banking on Beijing: The Aims and Impacts of China's Overseas Development Program}},
 year = {2022}
}

Variables in this dataset:

Completed ODA-like debt rescheduling, adjusted amount (USD 2021)

QoG Code: gcdf_droda

Total adjusted commitment amount in constant 2021 USD for completed project or activity records that are Recommended For Aggregates, where the simplified flow type is Debt Rescheduling and the flow class is ODA-like. Values are summed by recipient country and commitment year using AidData's Adjusted Amount (Constant USD 2021), as available in the extracted dataset.

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Completed ODA-like grants, adjusted amount (USD 2021)

QoG Code: gcdf_groda

Total adjusted commitment amount in constant 2021 USD for completed project or activity records that are Recommended For Aggregates, where the simplified flow type is Grant and the flow class is ODA-like. Values are summed by recipient country and commitment year using AidData's Adjusted Amount (Constant USD 2021).

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Completed OOF-like grants, adjusted amount (USD 2021)

QoG Code: gcdf_groof

Total adjusted commitment amount in constant 2021 USD for completed project or activity records that are Recommended For Aggregates, where the simplified flow type is Grant and the flow class is OOF-like. Values are summed by recipient country and commitment year using AidData's Adjusted Amount (Constant USD 2021).

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Completed ODA-like loans, adjusted amount (USD 2021)

QoG Code: gcdf_lnode

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Completed OOF-like loans, adjusted amount (USD 2021)

QoG Code: gcdf_lnoof

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Completed loans, vague official finance, adjusted (USD 2021)

QoG Code: gcdf_lnvof

Total adjusted commitment amount in constant 2021 USD for completed project or activity records that are Recommended For Aggregates, where the simplified flow type is Loan and the flow class is Vague (Official Finance). This category includes loans backed by official commitments that cannot be reliably classified as ODA-like or OOF-like due to insufficient information. Values are summed by recipient country and commitment year using AidData's Adjusted Amount (Constant USD 2021).

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Completed vague flows, ODA-like, adjusted amount (USD 2021)

QoG Code: gcdf_vgoda

Total adjusted commitment amount in constant 2021 USD for completed project or activity records that are Recommended For Aggregates, where the simplified flow type is Vague and the flow class is ODA-like. The Vague flow type indicates that the transfer type is not clearly specified in the underlying data. Values are summed by recipient country and commitment year using AidData's Adjusted Amount (Constant USD 2021).

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Completed vague flows, OOF-like, adjusted amount (USD 2021)

QoG Code: gcdf_vgoof

Total adjusted commitment amount in constant 2021 USD for completed project or activity records that are Recommended For Aggregates, where the simplified flow type is Vague and the flow class is OOF-like. The Vague flow type indicates that the transfer type is not clearly specified in the underlying data. Values are summed by recipient country and commitment year using AidData's Adjusted Amount (Constant USD 2021).

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Completed vague flows, vague official finance, adjusted (USD 2021)

QoG Code: gcdf_vgvof

Total adjusted commitment amount in constant 2021 USD for completed project or activity records that are Recommended For Aggregates, where the simplified flow type is Vague and the flow class is Vague (Official Finance). This category captures official commitments that cannot be reliably classified as ODA-like or OOF-like due to insufficient information. Values are summed by recipient country and commitment year using AidData's Adjusted Amount (Constant USD 2021).

More about this variable