AidData's Geospatial Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset

Area of Science:

• Development Finance
• Geospatial Analysis
• International Relations

Background:

• AidData's Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset (Version 3.0) tracks over 20,000 projects in 165 countries.
• Chinese development finance is a significant global economic force.
• Understanding the spatial distribution of these projects is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce a novel methodology for identifying geospatial features of Chinese development projects.
• Create a geolocated dataset of Chinese development finance.
• Enhance transparency and replicability in development finance research.

Main Methods:

• Developed and applied a geospatial feature identification methodology.
• Utilized AidData's Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset (Version 3.0) as the primary data source.
• Geocoded over 9,405 projects, detailing specific infrastructure like roads, railways, and power plants.

Main Results:

• Launched the Geospatial Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset (Version 3.0).
• Captured geospatial features for 9,405 projects across 148 countries, totaling over USD 830 billion.
• Precisely geocoded 6,266 projects and identified administrative locations for 3,139 others.

Conclusions:

• The developed methodology effectively identifies and geolocates development projects.
• The new dataset provides unprecedented spatial insights into Chinese development finance.
• Publicly releasing the methodology, dataset, and code promotes further research and accountability.