Analysis of the implication of China's Economic Operation

From FY2017 to FY2019, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation collected data on China's external economic activities under the supervision of Professor Shin Kawashima of the University of Tokyo, with Senior Researcher Bonji Ohara as the project leader, and Professor Naohiro Kitano of Waseda University and Visiting Fellow Yasuo Onishi of the Japan Science and Technology Agency.
In order to examine the relationship between China's foreign and security policies and foreign investment, this project attempted to construct a database of aid and investment in the construction and operation of related railroads, roads, airfields, and power plants, with a particular focus on ports.
The map application is a visualization of the data in this database on a map, with a time slider that allows users to understand China's foreign economic activities at different times. The data was collected up to September 2019, and the database will be continuously updated.

Display the map in full screen

Instruction manual

List of related papers

The published papers were analyzed by each project member based on the collected data.

A Case Study of Chinese Companies’ Construction and Operation of Ports Overseas: The Kribi Port in Cameroon

Naohiro Kitano

»Read more

China’s Investments in International Ports
under the Belt and Road Initiative

Yasuo Onishi

»Read more

The Goals and Issues of China’s Port Construction and Operation:
The Case of the Termination of the Bagamoyo Port Project

Shin Kawashima

»Read more

“Chinese Foreign Aid Data Analysis” Project
The Background to China’s Overseas Port Investments

Bonji Ohara (Senior Fellow Sasakawa Peace Foundation)

»Read more

List of Authors

  • Naohiro KitanoProfessor at Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University.

    He joined Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund, Japan (OECF) in 1983. He held various positions, including Director General, Development Assistance Department II, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Director General, East and Central Asia and the Caucasus Department, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Director, JICA Research Institute. He obtained Ph.D. from Cornell University. His fields of research are city and regional planning, development cooperation, and China's foreign aid. He received Nairamdal (Friendship) Medal of Mongolia in 2012.
    His publications include “China’s Foreign Aid: Entering a New Stage,” Asia-Pacific Review 25 (1), 2018, Kitano, N. and Qu, F. Five Lessons for Shaping Policies and Programs to Accelerate Urban Sanitation in Asia: A Case Study on the Beijing Gaobeidian Wastewater Treatment Plant. ADBI Policy Briefs. 2021. ADBI, and Kitano, N. and Miyabayashi, Y. Estimating China’s Foreign Aid: 2019-2020 Preliminary Figures. 2020. JICA Ogata Research Institute.

  • Yasuo OnishiJapan Science and Technology Agency. Visiting Fellow.

    After the graduation from School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University, joined Institute of Developing Economies(IDE) in 1977. Held different positions including Economic Attache of Japanese Embassy in PR China, Research Fellow of Current Affairs Department, IDE, Visiting Research Fellow of Institute of Industrial Economics, CASS. Director-General of Area Studies Center, Director-General of JETRO Shanghai office, and Director-General of Inter-disciplinary Studies Center, Chief Senior Researcher of IDE. Assigned to current position of Japan Science and Technology Agency from 2020.
    Area of research is Chinese Economy, External Economic Policy of China, Physical Distribution of China, and Regional Economic Development in China. Recent Works are Foresight and Action Assignment of Xi Jinping Regime (ed., IDE Current Affairs Report No.20, 2013), Chinese Economy in the Xi Jinping Era (IDE Current Affairs Report No.24, 2015), China in Xi Jinping “New Era” (ed., IDE Selected Books No.50, 2019), etc.

  • Shin Kawashimaprofessor at the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, the University of Tokyo.

    He earned academic degrees at the University of Tokyo (Ph.D, 2000). He was assistant professor at Hokkaido University (1998-2006) and the University of Tokyo (2006-2007), associate professor at the University of Tokyo (2007-2015), and then as professor in 2015. He is also a senior researcher of the Nakasone Peace Institute, an associate member of Science Council of Japan, the advisory member of the Committee for the Promotion of the Declassification of Diplomatic Records, Ministry Foreign Affairs, an expert member of the International Political Economy Conference, and the advisory member of the Public Records and Archives Management Commission. His research covers Chinese/Taiwanese diplomatic history and the contemporary international relations in East Asia. He has authored and edited several books and numerous articles, notably Formation of Chinese Modern Diplomacy (Nagoya University Press, 2004, awarded the Suntory Academic Prize), China in the 21st Century (Chuokoron-shinsha, 2016), Frontier of China (Iwanami Shoten, 2017), Japan–China Relations in the Modern Era (co-authored, London: Routledge, 2017), and U.S.-China Relations and the World Order After COVID-19 (co-authored, University of Tokyo Press, 2020).

  • Bonji OharaSenior Fellow, The Sasakawa Peace Foundation

    Graduated from the National Defense Academy of Japan in 1985 and completed his Master’s program (area studies) at the University of Tsukuba in 1998. Joined the Maritime Self‐Defense Forces in 1985 and became a helicopter pilot. Stationed in China between 2003 and 2006 as a naval attaché. Became chief of the intelligence section, MSDF Maritime Staff Office, Ministry of Defense, in 2006 and commanding officer of the 21st Flight Squadron, MSDF, in 2009. Worked at IHS Jane’s from 2011 as an analyst and business development manager and joined The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research in 2013, and became the Director of Policy Research in 2016 before assuming his present position in June 2017. His works include Chugoku no gunji senryaku (China’s Military Strategy), Toyo Keizai Inc., co-author of Magari kado ni tatsu chugoku (China at a Turning Point), NTT Publishing, Beichu shin reisen no makuake (After Sharp Power), Toyo Keizai Inc., and Yoku wakaru gendai chugoku seiji (Contemporary Chinese Politics), Minervashobo.