Despite infrastructure investment estimates that range in the trillions under China’s Belt and Road Initiative and which are so far focusing on the electricity sector, we have a limited understanding of China’s role in the evolution of the global electricity sector. This is largely because China does not systematically disclose the details of its overseas development programs.

To overcome this hurdle, this thesis develops, compiles and analyzes a novel dataset that draws on commercial data tracking, publicly available datasets, and more than 1,000 supporting documents. It matches financial transactions by the main Chinese Developmental Institutions (CDIs) and traditional Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to power plant projects worldwide (Chapter 2). The analysis illustrates how CDIs rapidly emerged as the largest public finance provider globally and shows how most of the support is directed towards coal plants, albeit more efficient coal plants over time.

Building on the newly constructed dataset and econometric two-part models, this research then illustrates how CDIs are increasingly supporting power projects in countries that are politically aligned with China on human rights, while simultaneously shifting toward concentrating their investments into wealthier countries with higher electrification rates (Chapter 3).

Finally, Chapter 4 moves away from focusing on the main types of funding actors by creating a granular unit-level network perspective that features the main commercial partners involved in CDI-funded power plants globally. Using network analysis techniques and other econometric methods, it identifies distinct collaboration patterns in CDI-supported plants and detects convergence trends between the networks supported by CDIs and MDBs.