China's Foreign Aid and Investment Diplomacy ― Nature, Scope, and Origins

Today, by many accounts, China is the world's foremost purveyor of foreign aid and foreign investment to developing countries. This is the product of China's miracle economic growth over a period of more than three decades, together with China's drive to become a major player in world affairs and accomplish this through economic rather than military means. This three-volume work is the first comprehensive study of China's aid and investment strategy to trace how it has evolved since Beijing launched its foreign aid diplomacy at the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Volume I examines the definitions, origins, nature, and scope of foreign aid and investment by other countries. Using that background, John F. Copper then traces China's financial assistance to developing countries from the Mao period - when China gave meaningful foreign aid despite its own economic struggles - through the beginning of China's post-1978 economic boom and during subsequent decades of rapid economic growth. Copper shows that China has a more salient history in giving foreign assistance than any other country in the world; while China's objectives in giving foreign assistance have changed markedly over time, China has always been driven by efforts to realize its foreign policy objectives and expand China's external influence.

John F. Copper is the Stanley J. Buckman Distinguished Professor of International Studies emeritus at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He is the author of more than thirty books on China, Taiwan, and Asian Affairs. Copper is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Men of Achievement, Contemporary Authors, and The Annual Guide to Public Policy Experts. In 1997, he was recipient of the International Communications Award. He has spent fifteen years in Asia. China's Foreign Aid and Foreign Investment Diplomacy is the culmination of over four decades of work on this subject.