Revival Projects in International Development: Evidence from Chinese Global Infrastructure since 1949 (with Austin Strange)
- Abstract: How do historical interactions between states affect their contemporary relations? We examine this broader question in the context of Chinese overseas development projects. We examine Chinese-financed and built infrastructure projects that the Chinese government has “revived” in recent years. China’s contemporary infrastructure drive and the Belt and Road Initiative have attracted intense scrutiny. But China’s government also financed several hundred infrastructure projects in dozens of developing regions between 1949 and 1999. We theorize that revival projects have multiple political functions that explain China’s willingness to spend resources revitalizing and branding them. To assess these claims, we provide new evidence showing China’s government has revived a significant portion of these projects by refurbishing, modernizing, or expanding them. Using new datasets on China’s 20th- and 21st-century overseas development finance, we document over 80 revival projects across over 280 project records, many of which represent some of China’s most high-profile international development projects. We also include an illustrative case, Burundi’s Mugere Hydropower Station and Sierra Leone’s National Stadium, that demonstrates the various contemporary political func- tions of these historical projects. Earlier research has long suggested that China is not a new donor or lender in international development, and our study helps illuminate the contemporary political logic of historical development cooperation between China and host countries.