Beijing’s Big Bet on the Philippines: Decoding two decades of China’s financing for development
Publication Date
June 4, 2024
Authors
Samantha Custer, Bryan Burgess, Jonathan A. Solis, Narayani Sritharan, and Divya Mathew
Abstract
Beijing has become a go-to source of development finance and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Philippines. In Beijing’s Big Bet on the Philippines, we meticulously piece together data from multiple sources to assess the money, relationships, and outcomes from two decades of PRC investment. We follow the money to track $9.1 billion in PRC financing for more than 200 development projects from 2000-2022, spotlighting Beijing’s revealed priorities in what projects it finances, where, and when in the Philippines. We then scrutinize the relationships behind these investments to uncover the major players, their roles, and their track records. Finally, we assess Beijing’s performance in the Philippines—to what extent does it follow through on its commitments, how does it manage the risk of public harm from its projects, and what are the downstream effects across society?
