A new book by Professor Jing Gu, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, explores how cooperation between China and countries across the global South works in practice. The book examines how China’s provinces engage with African partners, how development cooperation is structured and negotiated, and how risks, bargaining, and institutional constraints shape outcomes in a changing global economic and political landscape.
The publication ‘China and the Global South in a Contested World Order: The Changing Dynamics of Policy and Practice in an Era of Polycrisis’ provides important insights as China’s annual “Two Sessions” meetings take place this week in Beijing, reviewing economic performance and outlining policy priorities for the years ahead.
Cooperation in a ‘polycrisis’ world
The book situates engagement between China and the global South in an era of overlapping shocks – economic volatility, climate risks and post-pandemic pressures – described as a “polycrisis” world. Drawing on detailed evidence and case studies (e.g., across African partner countries and sectors), it shows where cooperation is delivering results, where tensions are emerging, and why outcomes depend on institutions and bargaining processes on both sides.
At a time when governments are navigating debt negotiations, climate finance pressures and strategic competition, the book also offers practical frameworks for interpreting fast-moving debates and planning engagement. It is aimed at policymakers and practitioners working on development partnerships, including officials in development finance and debt management, multilateral and bilateral agencies, and analysts covering China-linked cooperation. It also provides an evidence base for journalists and researchers seeking to understand why outcomes from China’s engagement vary across countries and sectors.
The role of provincial actors and local institutions
A distinctive contribution of the research is its focus on the actors and institutions involved in implementation, particularly engagement at China’s provincial and subnational levels. Rather than treating China as a single, unitary actor, the book examines how provinces, local state-owned firms and affiliated institutions act as consequential intermediaries, shaping project selection, partnerships and implementation on the ground, alongside the priorities and capacities of partner governments and local institutions. It analyses how development cooperation is being financed and governed in practice across all contexts and levels of governance by linking development diplomacy and partnerships to live issues such as debt sustainability, financial and political risk, and the realities of renegotiation.
Professor Jing Gu, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies and author of the book, said:
“As policy discussions on development finance gather pace this spring, attention is turning to the practical questions behind real international and global partnerships, including who makes decisions, how priorities are negotiated, how risks are managed, and what happens when development projects face pressure or need to adapt.
“My aim with this book is to support a more rigorous, practical and fair-minded conversation about what drives outcomes in different contexts when it comes to the global South’s engagement with China, and about the choices and agency of actors on all sides.”
The book also examines the growing importance of digital infrastructure, platforms and standards in development trajectories, and why these areas require careful analysis of governance, capacity and inclusion as digital systems become increasingly embedded in development pathways across the global South.
