The History of Chinese Aid and Development Cooperation contributions. 53 Estimates by AidData suggest China’s re­cent bilateral annual international development finance commitments are around USD 85 billion a year, with only 5–10 per cent of this sum being comparable to DAC ODA. 54 By comparison, the ODA of the EU’s largest donor, Germany, was USD 35 billion in 2022, with France coming in at USD 15.9 billion in 2020, and the US’s ODA amount­ed to USD 47.8 billion in 2021. 55 The scale of BRI loans and the lack of transparency in loan contracts have raised con­cerns regarding debt sustainability. 56 Such concerns have been dismissed by increasingly assertive Chinese state ac­tors such as the Ministry of Finance or the People’s Bank of China, reproaching critics for focusing too much on debt and too little on development and infrastructure needs. 57 Nevertheless, China has agreed to participate in the G20’s multilateral debt restructuring initiatives Debt Service Sus­pension Initiative(DSSI) and the Common Framework, al­beit only for a portion of its loans. 58 China’s Modernisation has broken with the myth that “modernisation equals Westernisation”. It has expanded the possibilities of paths for developing countries to mod­ernise and provided a Chinese solution for mankind’s search for a better social system. 60 Amidst the shifts in narratives, however, the core remains unaltered. The principle of what China calls“international­ism” remains a cornerstone of its developmental philoso­phy. China staunchly believes that infrastructure is para­mount to development, and it is committed to propagating this principle beyond its borders. Additionally, China’s pur­suit of creating an environment conducive to its own eco­nomic growth and political stability remains unwavering. China’s new assertiveness has furthermore been accom­panied by the global promotion of distinct Chinese devel­opment paradigms, such as the“Community of Shared Future for Mankind” as an alternative vision of multilater­alism based on“joint consultations” rather than on the rules-based order, which China views as dominated by the US. 59 Since 2021, Xi Jinping has announced three new global initiatives with relevance to development: The Global Development Initiative(2021), the Global Security Initiative(2022) and the Global Civilisation Initiative(2023). Together, these three initiatives convey China’s official out­look on development: Namely, that development is the paramount human right. They describe stability and securi­ty(which in practice are often conceived of by the Chinese government as the absence of dissent) as essential prereq­uisites for progress. Moreover, these initiatives underscore China’s stance that there are no universal values, only com­mon values; every“civilisation” has its distinct develop­ment history and path, and modernisation does not equal “Westernisation”. Speaking at a party study session in Feb­ruary 2023, Xi stated that: 53 Rudyak& Chen(2021). China’s Lending Landscape. 54 Malik, A. et al.(2021). Banking on the Belt and Road: Insights from a New Global Dataset of 13,427 Chinese Development Projects. Williamsburg, VA: AidData at William& Mary. https://www.aiddata. org/publications/banking-on-the-belt-and-road 55 OECD(2023). Development Co-operation Profiles. OECD Publishing. Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/2dcf1367-en 56 Horn, S. et al.(2019). China’s Overseas Lending’. Kiel Working Pa­pers, no. 2132, June. https://www.ifw-kiel.de/publications/kiel-work­ing-papers/chinas-overseas-lending-12820/ 57 PRC Ministry of Finance(2019). Vice-Minister Zou Jiayi Gave an Exclu­sive Interview on the Financing Sub-Forum of the BRI Forum for Inter­national Cooperation( 财政部副部长邹加怡就 “ 一带一路 ” 国际合作高峰 论坛资金融通分论坛有关情况接受媒体专访 ), 25 April. https://archive. ph/WTmkO; Zhu, J. 朱隽 (2021) Reflections on China’s Participation in International Sovereign Debt Restructuring( 中国参与国际主权债务重 组的思考 ), Shanghai Development Research Foundation( 上海发展研 究基金会 ), 18 August. https://archive.ph/EPCBz 58 Rudyak& Chen(2021). China’s Lending Landscape. 59 See: Rudyak, M.(2023). Multilateralism, Development, Human Rights and Modernisation in Oud, M.& Drinhausen, K.(Eds.). Decoding China Dictionary(2 nd ed.). www.decodingchina.eu 60 Xinhua( 新华社 )(2023). Xi Jinping Delivered an Important Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Seminar on the Study and Imple­mentation of the 20 th NPC Spirit( 习近平在学习贯彻党的二十大精神 研讨班开班式上发表重要讲话 ), 7 February. https://web.archive.org/ web/20230214184140/http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2023-02/07/con­tent_5740520.htm 13