China's Triangular Development Cooperation: Perception and Practices

Triangular development cooperation (TDC) is an increasingly popular modality in the aid field. It is seen to have both huge potential and limits. As the largest emerging donor, China's participation in TDC has been put under the spotlight. This article proposes a working definition of TDC focused on the type of resources transferred and establishes a data set on the projects that China was involved in, from 2005 to 2016. Moreover, it investigates China's perception of the TDC by analysing its official publications. It finds that (a) China holds an equivocal understanding of the TDC concept; (b) although China has been rhetorically stressing the importance of TDC, few real actions have been taken; (c) China prefers international organisations in TDC instead oftnationaldonors; and (d) like other actors, most of China TDC projects are recorded in non-economic sectors. At the moment, China remains cautious regarding the modality. But considering the growing volume of Chinese aid and its visibility a more proactive stance on TDC might better serve Chinese interests.