1st Edition

Chinese Development Aid and Africa What, How, and Why

Edited By Elling Tjønneland Copyright 2026
220 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

220 Pages 13 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

This book investigates China’s evolving development aid within Africa, considering how it compares with and interacts with trends and shifts in the global aid system and aid from traditional Western donor countries. It examines the role of Chinese aid within China’s broader political, economic, and development engagement on the continent.   The book analyses Chinese policy and aid... Read more

Chapter 1: Cooperation with Africa: Expansion and Recalibration of China’s Development Aid          

Elling Tjønneland      

  

Chapter 2: The Alignment of Development and Foreign Policy in China’s Evolving Aid System         

Yu Zheng and Yulin Chen      

 

Chapter 3: The Expanding Role of Provinces      

Xuefei Shi       

 

Chapter 4: Examining trilateral development cooperation: Rhetoric, practices, and unfulfilled potential?     

Hang Zhou and Han Cheng   

 

Chapter 5: Multilateral Aid Engagement:  From Initial to Basic and Active Participation     

Hans Jørgen Gåsemyr

 

Chapter 6: FOCAC and South-South cooperation – the case of the African Union    

Elling Tjønneland      

 

Chapter 7: China’s assistance to higher education and training in Ethiopia        

Lovise Aalen  

Chapter 8: Chinese aid to Tanzania: Its evolution and drivers  

Stein Sundstøl Eriksen and Muhidin Shangwe          

 

Chapter 9: What difference does it make? China and global aid           

Elling Tjønneland      

Biography

Elling Tjønneland is a political scientist and senior researcher at the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) in Norway. He was the project director for research project on Chinese development aid that led to the publication of this book. He has published extensively on development aid and African development, particularly related to South and Southern Africa. This includes numerous assignments and advisory services for multilateral and bilateral aid agencies.

"A polished collection, with contributions from senior and emerging scholars, this new book provides an insightful survey of current trends in Chinese development finance across Africa and timely case studies of China’s bilateral and multilateral engagement."

Deborah Brautigam, Director, SAIS China Africa Research Initiative (CARI), Johns Hopkins University, USA.

"The practices and policies of Chinese Development Aid and Africa have been evolving rapidly since the 21st century and their impacts on Africa requires thorough research. By collecting latest in-depth analyses from African, Chinese and European experts, Elling Tjønneland’s edited book offers new insights into this intriguing topic. I highly recommend it."

Tang Xiaoyang, Professor of International Relations, Tsinghua University, China.

"This book is a refreshing, thoughtful, and pathbreaking appraisal of the complex contours that have shaped China’s development aid in Africa. The rich contributions bring together diverse perspectives which impose analytical order on a subject that is little understood. It is, therefore, a timely and welcome contribution to better understanding China’s development aid philosophy in Africa; and crucially, the policy, institutional, and normative dimensions which inform the book’s topical areas."

Garth le Pere, Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection, South Africa.