The Latecomer's Rise: Policy Banks and the Globalization of China's Development Finance

Muyang Chen's book, The Latecomer's Rise, explores the nature and impact of Chinese development finance, revealing its distinctiveness and its effects on the international order. Through interviews and official bank documents, Chen compares Chinese policy banks with their foreign counterparts to show that they are both market-oriented and government organs that serve both state and firm interests. This approach suggests that Chinese overseas lending is not merely a tool of economic statecraft but also a response to extant rules, norms, and practices across given issue areas that varies between contestation and convergence.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 15 June 2024
Publisher: Cornell University Press

Chinese development finance has become a significant global force in recent years, with China becoming the world's largest provider of bilateral development finance through its two national policy banks, the China Development Bank (CDB) and the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim). This surge in capital has raised questions about the characteristics of Chinese bilateral lending and its repercussions on the international order. Muyang Chen's book, "The Latecomer's Rise," explores these questions by drawing on a variety of novel Chinese primary sources, including interviews and official bank documents. Chen pinpoints the distinctiveness of Chinese bilateral development finance, explains its origins, and analyzes its effects. She compares Chinese policy banks with their foreign counterparts to show that the CDB and China Exim are both state-supported and market-oriented, serving both state and firm interests. This approach suggests that Chinese overseas lending is not merely a tool of economic statecraft that challenges Western-led economic regimes, but rather that China's responses to extant rules, norms, and practices across given issue areas have varied between contestation and convergence. Rich with empirical detail and penetrating insights, "The Latecomer's Rise" demystifies the little-known workings of Chinese development finance to revise our conceptions of China's role in the international financial system.

Weight: 907g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501775857