According to an article published today in the Wall Street Journal:
"In 2001, China spent roughly $1.7 billion on foreign aid. By 2011, the annual foreign-aid figure had risen to $189.3 billion. Part of the increase reflects the growth in China's economy. But this is an increase with a purpose, and China's foreign-aid programs are as different from aid programs conducted by the U.S. and other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries as East is from West.
Beijing's aid is explicitly linked to benefits for China as much as it is to benefits for recipients. The aid is financed by loans, while the U.S. and OECD subscribe to a definition of "development aid" that confines the term solely to grants. Notably, the quid pro quo aspects of China's aid have a more capitalistic tinge than aid emanating from the capitalist donors, which may be why China's minister of commerce rather than its foreign affairs minister is principally responsible for overseeing the multiple other agencies involved in the programs.
Between 2001 and 2011, China's pledged foreign aid was $671 billion, divided among 93 emerging-market countries. In 2010, annual aid pledged by China was $169 billion and in 2011, $189 billion—equivalent to about 3% of its reported GDP and more than twice the size of the officially reported budget of the ministry of defense.
Slightly over 80% of the pledged aid is allocated for development of natural resources and, secondarily, for infrastructure. The tangible benefits for China are through the explicit consignment of production from the resource-development projects for export to China, as specified in the loan agreements that govern the programs. Proceeds from these exports are deposited in escrow accounts established by the two banks that principally fund the programs—the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China. The loans provided by the banks typically carry 3% interest, with repayments scheduled over 15-years plus an additional five-year grace period".
