Understanding China’s Motivations Behind Its Foreign Aid to Education

After becoming the world’s second-largest economy in 2010, China has adopted a proactive stance toward foreign aid. Notably, the increasing investment in educational aid represents a significant yet under-explored topic. What motivates China’s educational aid, and what factors have catalysed these motivations? Existing literature has fallen into the debate over whether China’s educational aid is driven by altruism or self-interest; however, this article aims to comprehensively and objectively analyse the motivational determinants of China’s educational aid by addressing these research questions. To this end, this article employs a mixed-methods approach, utilising Tobit models and examining the case of China’s educational aid to Africa. The findings indicate that China’s diplomatic motivations primarily drive its educational aid, rather than altruism or economic and trade interests. In the context of Sino-US competition, educational aid is a component of China’s public diplomacy, contributing to its image-building efforts and the diplomatic goal of fostering people-to-people connections under the Belt and Road Initiative. Furthermore, it plays a crucial role in disseminating China’s development model to recipient countries.