Ammar Malik, China AidData, and the Data and Debate over Chinese Lending

On this episode, Juliet and Erik speak to Dr. Ammar Malik about AidData’s Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset, Version 2.0.  This dataset provides the most comprehensive data on China’s overseas development finance activities, covering projects over 18 commitment years (2000-2017). They discuss the trends and findings from the dataset, break down China’s overseas loans and the concept of ‘hidden debt’, explore potential future applications of the data, and more.

Dr. Ammar Malik is a senior research scientist at AidData, a research lab at William & Mary where he leads the Chinese Development Finance Program. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from George Mason University, an M.A. in Public Affairs from Sciences Po Paris, an M.A. in Public Policy from the National University of Singapore, and a B.Sc. in Economics and Mathematics from the Lahore University of Management Sciences. 

Read more of Dr. Malik’s work:Malik, et al. (2021), Banking on the Belt and Road: Insights from a new global dataset of 13,427 Chinese development projects Find Mandarin Chinese versions of the report’s executive summary here and the main report hereMalik, Ammar and Bradley Parks (2021), Hidden debt exposure to China: What is it, where is it, and should we be concerned? 

Recommendations

AmmarBluhm, et al (2020), Connective Financing: Chinese Infrastructure Projects and the Diffusion of Economic Activity in Developing Countries  ErikMargaret Myers, Going Out Guaranteed: Chinese Insurers and Latin AmericaHow To with John Wilson on HBOJuliet (via Jack Zinda’s recommendation)R, Gabriel and Jeremy Wallace (2022). Political Science, Authoritarianism, and Climate Change: Can the Climate Crisis Undermine Democratic Legitimacy? In response to: Mittiga, Ross (2021). Political Legitimacy, Authoritarianism, and Climate Change. Cambridge University Press.~Thanks to Taili Ni, the newest member of the Belt and Road Podcast team as of March 2022, who edited this episode and wrote the show notes!~