From Chengdu to Kampala: The Role of Subnational Actors in China’s Foreign Aid

Abstract

This article examines the role of subnational actors in China's foreign aid. It applies the terms of 'decentralized cooperation' and 'twinning' into the analysis of China's aid architecture, drawing a connection between aid and domestic politics. With evidence from East Africa, it argues that it is the endogenous twinning mechanism and the deep involvement of subnational actors that make Chinese aid structurally distinct from those of other donors, particularly in the area of health, agriculture and education. It finds that the involvement of subnational actors brings in more resources for the sustainability of China's aid programs, while the multiple faces and institutional capacity of subnational Chinese actors giving aid may require further examination.

The governance of China's foreign aid system: Evolution and path dependence

“…Yet few studies have examined the relationship between central and provincial aid agencies. A recent study by Shi and Hoebink (), one of the few, examined the subnational actors of three areas within China's foreign aid system, including health, agriculture, and education. They, however, failed to elaborate the central–provincial relationship in the providing of development finance though they briefly mentioned “the provision of finance is usually carried out, not by CDB's main office in Beijing, but by its provincial branches.” Thus we attempt to disentangle the intergovernmental arrangements of development finance as a case to gauge the existence of path dependence.…”

Home Away From Home: The Social and Political Roles of Contemporary Chinese Associations in Zambia

“…Many Chinese migrants in Zambia depend on kinship and geographical relationships, resulting in the formation of different and highly cohesive hometown associations. Wu (2014) and Shi and Hoebink (2020) find the policy of province-country twinning assistance (对口支援, duikou zhiyuan) has aided the demographic spread of Chinese migrants in Zambia. In 1978 the first Chinese medical aid team from Henan Province arrived in Zambia and started their journey of providing healthcare service to Zambians.…”

Engaged Scholarship in a ‘Minefield’: On the Challenges of Studying Resistance to Resource Extraction in Kenya

“…Academic work by scholars from emerging economies may nevertheless prove helpful in understanding the transnational chain of corporate governance. For example,Shi and Hoebink (2020) trace how business ventures overseen by provincial governments in China, carried out under a veil of South-South cooperation, work out on the ground in Uganda.…”