| Titre | The Aid-Contracting Nexus: The Role of The International Contracting Industry in China's Overseas Development Engagements | |
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| Auteur | Hong Zhang | |
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Revue | China perspectives |
| Numéro | no 2020/4 Facets of Global China | |
| Rubrique / Thématique | Special Feature |
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| Page | 17-27 | |
| Résumé anglais |
Commercial interests in China's foreign aid projects are widely recognised in the literature. Yet, the role of the Chinese companies involved in such activities remains understudied. Piecing together information from primary sources, this article retells the story of China's overseas development engagements from the perspective of China's international contracting industry, the history of which is closely intertwined with China's foreign aid practices. Identified by the state to be a strategic vehicle for exporting Chinese labour, industrial products, technology, management skills, and capital, international construction contractors (ICECs) have received substantial policy support and have grown into prominent multinational corporations with global footprints. I use the concept of the “aid-contracting nexus” to highlight the linkage between China's economic diplomacy and domestic economic development strategy. The “aid-contracting nexus” provides a critical lens for analysing China's overseas development engagements, including why it has focused primarily on infrastructure, and the conceptual confusion over China's development finance. This analysis also speaks to the popular accusations that Chinese lending practices are predatory or “debt-trapping” by underscoring mercantilist logic as an alternative explanation. The evolving business model if ICECs is likely to pose new challenges for China's foreign relations. Source : Éditeur (via OpenEdition Journals) |
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| Article en ligne | http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/11124 |
