Event

BRI, Ports, and Debt: Getting the China Facts Straight

Date & Time

Tuesday

Mar. 26, 2024

1:30pm – 3:30pm ET

Location

5th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center

Event Sponsor

Kissinger Institute on China and the United States

Event Co-Sponsors

Image Credit

Overview

Please note that this event will take place in-person only and will not be webcast.

This event is now at capacity.

How can you navigate growing data opacity in researching and understanding China's actions at a global stage? Join the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States (KICUS) at the Wilson Center and AidData on Tuesday, March 26th, as they present “BRI, Ports, and Debt: Getting the China Facts Straight.”

AidData housed at the Global Research Institute at William & Mary has dedicated their time to studying China’s outbound investments through pioneering ‘TUFF’—Tracking Underrepresented Financial Flows. Through their comprehensive data collection and research, the team at AidData has been able to study a vast array of topics, from the BRI to AI and China’s future bases.

In July 2023, AidData released a report on ‘Harboring Global Ambitions: China's Ports Footprint and Implications for Future Overseas Naval Bases’, identifying the top 20 ports abroad to receive the most money from China and eight potential locations for future Chinese bases. A November 2023 report—‘Belt and Road Reboot: Beijing’s Bid to De-Risk Its Global Infrastructure Initiative’—finds that the BRI has remained as the largest source of international development financing, but that its structure in providing lending has shifted. Most recently in December 2023, AidData collaborated with RAND to produce a new dataset and report on China’s AI exports.

In the first part of the event, Dr. Ammar A. Malik, Director of AidData’s Chinese Development Finance Program and his team will present their findings, discuss how they conduct their research, and consider the future applications of their work. Following this presentation, a panel–including Kissinger Institute Director Robert Daly—will discuss the impacts of AidData’s research within the beltway and how data-driven research on China is shaping policymaking in DC and beyond.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Panel 1: The AidData Model - A Presentation on Researching China’s Development Finance

Panel 2: Shaping and Making Data-Driven China Policy

Speakers

Nikolas Foster

Senior Policy Advisor and Deputy PRC Advisor in USAID’s Bureau for Planning, Learning and Resources (PLR)

Steven Jackson

Fellow;
Professor of Political Science, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Ammar Malik

Wilson China Fellow;
Chinese Development Finance Program, AidData

Sheng Zhang

Research Analyst, AidData

Moderators

Robert Daly

Director, Kissinger Institute on China and the United States

Lea Thome

Schwarzman Fellow

Hosted By

Kissinger Institute on China and the United States

The Kissinger Institute works to ensure that China policy serves American long-term interests and is founded in understanding of historical and cultural factors in bilateral relations and in accurate assessment of the aspirations of China’s government and people. Read more

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