Title: The Latecomer’s Rise: Policy Banks and the Globalization of China’s Development Finance
Author: Chen Muyang
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Link: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501775857/the-latecomers-rise/

In The Latecomer’s Rise, Muyang Chen explores the nature and impact of a rapidly expanding form of international lending: Chinese development finance.

Over the past few decades, China has emerged as the world’s largest provider of bilateral development finance. Through its two policy banks—the China Development Bank (CDB) and the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim)—it has financed infrastructure and industrial projects across numerous emerging markets and developing countries. Yet the sheer scale and speed of this capital outflow have raised questions about the unique characteristics of Chinese bilateral lending and its implications for the international order.

Drawing on a range of original Chinese sources, including interviews and official bank documents, Chen identifies the distinctiveness of Chinese development finance, traces its origins, and evaluates its effects. By comparing Chinese policy banks with their foreign counterparts, she demonstrates that while CDB and China Exim are state-backed institutions, they are also market-oriented—functioning not only as government entities but also as profit-driven financial agencies that balance state and corporate interests. This hybrid model, shaped by China’s unique economic trajectory, suggests that Chinese overseas lending is not merely a tool of economic statecraft aimed at challenging Western-led financial systems. Rather, China’s approach to existing rules, norms, and practices varies between contestation and adaptation, depending on the issue area.

Rich in empirical evidence and incisive analysis, The Latecomer’s Rise demystifies the inner workings of Chinese development finance, reshaping our understanding of China’s role in the global financial landscape.