Motives and Resources of Traditional Chinese Foreign Aid, 1949–1994

Abstract

Since the establishment of traditional Chinese foreign aid, the People’s Republic of China has participated as both a donor and a recipient in foreign aid mechanisms. This has become a major issue in international relations. Until the Export-Import Bank of China and the China Development Bank were established in 1994, Chinese foreign aid could be considered traditional. As the focus of this study, traditional Chinese foreign aid has gained a disparate place in the literature due to its high level of involvement with aid mechanisms, domestic economic resources and motivations. In particular, the relationship between the PRC’s foreign aid motivations and its economic resources showed how effectively mainland China applied the foreign aid mechanism, which has been one of the main issues of these international relations. This study examines the relationship between the different economic conditions and foreign aid motivations of the Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping periods and attempts to reveal certain continuities and changes between the two periods.