Find Out Some (But Not All) The Secrets Of China's Foreign Aid
发现部分（但不是全部）中国对外援助的秘密
October 31, 201712:27 PM ET
Tom Murphy
Workers from a Chinese engineering companyerectthe African Union conference center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2010. China paid for the $200 million building as a gift to African Union.
2010年，在埃塞俄比亚的亚的斯亚贝巴，中国工程公司工人正在建造非洲联盟会议中心。它将花费中国政府2亿美元，并作为礼物送给非洲联盟政府。
Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images
For a long time, China's foreign aid spending was best described in the words of Winston Churchill: "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." The countrywithholdsinformation from the public because it is considered a state secret.
长期以来，中国的对外援助支出在温斯顿邱吉尔的话形容：“一个谜，神秘的里面的一个谜。”从公众隐瞒信息上看，它被认为是国家机密。
China joins countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela who collectively spend billions of dollars on overseas development each year but provide little to no information about where the money goes.
中国援助的国家如沙特阿拉伯，伊朗和委内瑞，花费数十亿美元在海外发展上，但每年只提供很少或几乎没有信息的钱告诉公众花到哪里去了.
A new report lifts the shroud of secrecy.
一份新报告提高了保密性。
What did we learn about Chinese development spending?
我们对中国的发展支出了解多少？
Thereport, published byAidDataa research lab based at the College of William & Mary, finds that China spent $362.1 billion over the 15-year period from 2000 to 2014 — a figure approaching the $424.3 billion spent by the U.S. over that same time frame. In fact, China now outspends the U.S. on an annual basis.
威廉&玛丽大学研究实验室发布援助数据报告，发现在从2000到2014的15年的时间中
中国花了3621亿美元在国际援助上-在同一时间内，这个数字接近美国的花费4243亿美元的数字。事实上，中国现在援助金额和美国的消费每年相当。
The new data shows that Chinese funds went to more than 4,300 projects in 140 countries and territories. The countries that benefit the most from China's aid vary geographically. Angola, Pakistan and Russia got the most money over the 15-year period.
新的数据显示，中国的资金在140个国家和地区共有4300多个项目。国家政府最受益于中国不同区域的援助。安哥拉、巴基斯坦和俄罗斯在15年中得到最多的钱。
Most of that money was directed toward private sector investments and loan agreements. For example, the ChinaEximBankextended$8 billion in loans to the Angolan government between 2000 and 2014. Russia and Angola top the list because they are oil-rich countries and important trade partners with China. Pakistan shares a border with China and is an important economic partner that provides geographicaccessto more countries in the Middle East and Asia.
大部分资金都用于政府部门投资和贷款协议。例如，在2000和2014之间的中国进出口银行提供80亿美元贷款给安哥拉政府。俄罗斯和安哥拉位于援助榜单的榜首是因为他们是盛产石油的国家，也是中国重要的贸易伙伴。巴基斯坦是一个重要的经济合作伙伴，并且能够提供在中东和亚洲多个国家地理上的方便口岸。
Just 21 percent of the total was spent on official development assistance (ODA), a technical name for what is generally called "foreign aid." As a point ofcomparison, roughly 93 percent of U.S. overseas development spendingcounts as ODA.
总数的21%用于官方发展援助，这是一个被称为“对外援助”的技术名称。作为比较，美国大约有93%的海外发展支出算作官方发展援助。
ODA funds go to supporthumanitarianprograms including food aid, access to AIDS drugs and support for smallholder farmers and also take the form of heavily discounted loans to governments and businesses that are at below-market interest rates and/or include long grace periods for repayment.
官方发展援助资金一般用于支持人道主义项目，包括粮食援助，推广艾滋病药物和对小农的支持，也将提供低折扣的政府的贷款和低利率和/或包括长期宽限期商业贷款。
Most Chinese ODA went to African countries, with the continent responsible for seven of the top 10 recipients. Cuba received the most aid money over the time analyzed, taking in $6.7 billion. It is followed by Cote d'Ivoire ($4 billion), Ethiopia ($3.7 billion) and Cameroon ($3.4 billion). The African continentinterestsChina due to its mineral wealth.
大多数中国官方发展援助资金都流向了非洲国家，占非洲大陆国家的前10名的七位。经过分析，古巴获得的援助资金最多，为67亿美元。这是早期的科特迪瓦（40亿美元）、埃塞俄比亚（37亿美元）和喀麦隆（34亿美元）。非洲大陆的利益，中国感兴趣的是他们的矿产财富。
Where do these numbers come from if all the data is hidden?
如果所有的数据都被隐藏了，这些数字来自哪里？
More than 100 researchers around the worldpainstakinglyanalyzed public information, from news reports to government reports, to determine how much money China spent on overseas development projects between 2000 and 2014.
超过100世界各地的研究人员精心分析从新闻报道到政府报告中得到的公共信息，以确定在2000到2014年之间，中国在海外开发项目花费了多少钱。
AidData developed a new method to find out where and how countries spend money called Tracking Underreported Financial Flows, or TUFF. It involves scanning open source and public documents, including reports published by diplomatic offices, news reports and recipient government budgets to find relevant data.
援助数据开发了一个找出各国如何花钱资金流动的新方法，叫TUFF。它扫描源代码开放的公共文件，包括通过驻外机构公布的报告，新闻报道，政府预算找到相关数据。
A large amount of the work was done by hand, which is why it took the team five years to collect all the data. Now, much of the work is done by artificial intelligence programs to analyze thousands of pages of documents and websites for new spending figures.
之前大量的工作都是人工完成的，这就是为什么它花费了团队五年来收集的所有数据。现在，大部分的工作是由人工智能程序来分析成千上万的新的支出数据文件和网站页面。
The resulting data are to someextentan educated guess at how much money China spends and where it goes. That is because a lot of the figures are based on planned spending, not final costs. But projects do not always cost as much as expected orcircumstanceschange leading to a project to end early. In some cases it is possible that projects never took place at all.
由此产生的数据在某种程度上是可以猜测，中国在哪里花多少钱。这是因为很多的数据是基于计划的支出，不是最终的成本。但项目并不总是按预算来指出或受环境变化导致项目提前结束。在某些情况下，可能某些项目就从来没有发生过
Why should we care?
为什么我们关心
A debate over Chinese foreign aid has grown despite the lack of knowledge about how the country spends. Theopaquenature of Chinese development spending led critics to label the country a "rogue" donor, charging that theso-calledforeign aid money has gone to fundshoddyprojects in undemocratic countries. It also fueledconcernsthat China's increased investments in Africa compete with the U.S.
尽管缺乏相关国家的支出的相关数据，一场关于中国对外援助的辩论已经在进行了。中国发展支出的不透明性导致批评者给中国贴上“流氓”的标签，或者，所谓的外国援助资金是在不民主的国家进行的劣质工程。这也引发担忧，中国在非洲投资的增加，直接与美国形成竞争。
The data helps bring someclarity to China's development spending. On a basic level, it proves the claims that China is increasingly investing in the development of other countries. Its spending grew from $2.6 billion in 2000 to $69.6 billion in 2009.
该数据有助于弄清楚中国的国际援助，在一个基本水平，说明中国越来越多地投资于其他国家的发展需求。其援助金额从2000的26亿美元增长到2009年696亿美元。
The increased spendingcorrelateswith thelaunchof major development projects inrecentyears. One example is anambitiousinitiative started four years ago to connect China to Europe byassistingthe economic development of the countries located in between.
国际援助的增加在近几年的与若干重大发展项目是相关性的。一个例子是关于一个雄心勃勃的计划，开始于四年前连接中国到欧洲的项目就帮助了沿线国家的经济发展。
The "One Belt, One Road" project, as it is called, is asort of revitalizationof the old Silk Road that enabled trade centuries ago by supporting countries in southeast Asia, central Asia and east Africa. China's plan is to support the development of countries along the route and improve theirinfrastructurein order to improve trade with Europe.
“一带一路”项目，是复兴古老的丝绸之路，支持东南亚、中亚、东非国家之间的贸易。中国的计划是支持沿线国家的发展和提高他们的基础设施，以提高与欧洲之间的贸易。
Last year,the country also helped launch a new bank to help low-income countries pay for infrastructure improvements, like new roads and power lines toruralvillages. China enlisted the help of other emerging economies, including Brazil and South Africa, to establish a development bank of their own, similar to the World Bank and IMF. And it is increasingly investing in African countries through aid, loans and direct investment.
去年，国家还建立新的银行来帮助低收入国家的基础设施的改善，如道路和乡村电力线。中国寻求帮助其他的新兴经济体，包括巴西和南非，建立自己的开发银行，类似于世界银行和国际货币基金组织。在非洲国家，越来越多的通过援助、贷款和直接投资来帮助他们。
Because China does not publish its spending data, it is hard to know what thesemulti-billiondollar initiatives are doing.
因为中国不公布其支出数据，很难知道这数十亿美元的具体作用是什么。
Are China's investments having an impact?
中国的投资会对其他方面又影响么？
A newworking paperreleased by AidData alongside the data set finds that China's ODA programs have positive impacts on economic growth. The researchers found that a country's economic growth increased by a 0.7 percentage point for every additional Chinese-financed project. It isin linewith other research showing the positive economic impact of aid from the U.S. and other countries that are part of theOrganization for Economic Co-operation and Development, say the authors.
公布的援助数据中有新的发现，中国的援助方案对经济增长产生积极的影响。研究人员发现，每增加中国资助的项目，就会对经济影响增长了0.7个百分点。这是符合美国和经济合作与发展组织中的国家的研究结果是一样的，国际援助是能够积极的影响到经济的，作者说。
On the other hand, when China's money is, for example, invested in a Russian business, there is no evidence of an economic boost to the country. These other official flows represent a myriad of loans and investments that do not qualify as aid.
另一方面，当中国的钱，比如投资在俄罗斯的业务，没有证据表明，该国经济增长。这些官员代表无数的贷款和投资并不算作为援助。
"In theory, China might have a greater positive impact on growth in the developing world if more of its official financing was in the form of ODA rather than other official flows," saidAustin Strange, a Ph.D. student at Harvard University and co-author of the study.
“从理论上讲，中国可能在用更多的官方融资，以ODA的形式而不是其他官方资本，对发展中国家的经济增长有较大的积极的影响，”哈佛大学的研究者Austin Strange说。
And how does this report affect the image of China as a rogue donor?
这又如何影响到中国形象，形容它是一个流氓行径。
David Dollar of the Brooking Instituteanalyzedspending between 2012 and 2014 using the new data. Some of the top recipient countries did not fall along the expected "One Belt, One Road" project route, including Venezuela and Nigeria. It shows that China is responding to the needs of countries who request aid to support things like infrastructure to education.
布鲁金斯研究所的David Dollar利用2012和2014之间新的数据来分析，一些顶级的受援国没有落在预期的“一带一路”项目的路线，包括委内瑞拉和尼日利亚。这表明中国应对有需求的国家请求援助以支持，诸如基础设施教育上的支持。
What stands out most to him is the fact that China is not necessarily propping upundemocraticregimes. Recent lending does notdiscriminatebased on the recipient countries' governance. It supports his argument that the decisions by China are basedsignificantlyon which countries want the money, not necessarily where China wants to invest.
最突出的事实是，中国不一定支持非民主制度。新的贷款不歧视基于受援国政治环境。它支持他的论点，中国的决定是基于对受援助国家是否明显想要钱，不一定是中国想要投资的。
He concludes that China is meeting the demands of recipient countries. For example, providing loans and aid to countries that need money to pay for infrastructure projects, like building roads. The lack of money available for infrastructure is a growing problem in sub-Saharan Africa,saida recent World Bank report. Countries do not spend enough and foreign investments do not fill the gap — infrastructure is not a priority area for other major donors like the U.S. The Bank estimates that improving access to and the quality of infrastructure in the region couldboostGDP per capita by 2.6 percent per year.
他认为，中国是满足了受援国的要求。例如，提供贷款和援助给需要钱来支付基础设施工程的国家，如修建道路。撒哈拉以南非洲，用于基础建设的资金问题是一个日益严重的问题，世界银行最近的一份报告说。国家不支出足够经费，而外国投资也不填补资金缺口-，基础设施结构不是一个优先援助领域，像美国银行估计，提高在该地区的基础设施的质量可以提高当地人均GDP每年2.6%。
"This new evidence punctures the myth that China is a rogue donor," arguesBradley Parks, executive director of AidData.
“这一新证据指出，中国是一个流氓的捐赠者，”Bradley Parks，援助数据的执行董事说。
"There is a belief that China is a sort of inferior donor who prioritizes speed over quality leading to poor projects and low impact. That may be individually true, but if that wassystematicallytrue we would expect Chinese aid projects to show less impact than Western aid donors."
有一种观点认为，中国是一种弱势者，优先考虑速度超过质量，导致项目不佳和低影响。也许可以单独实现，但如果那是真的，我们希望扥可以系统地展示中国援助项目的影响要比西方援助者的少。”
The report shows that is not the case. Evidence is mixed on the general impact of ODA on developing countries, but it generally points to improved economic gains. The analysis of Chinese ODA shows it is in line with the rest of the world, in terms of economic impact.
Great, so now we know everything about Chinese development spending, right?
好，现在我们知道中国的发展支出，一切都好吗？
Unfortunately, no.
不幸的是，不。
It is hard to know precisely because China is not publishing its own data. The estimates in the report rely on information about planned spending and not what was actually spent, points out Dollar. The only official information comes from white papers that describe top-line spending without detailing how much money goes to what country and for what purpose.
很难知道具体信息，正是因为中国不发布自己的数据。报告估计是依赖于计划支出的信息而不是实际花费，唯一官方信息来自白皮书，它没有详细描述的具体支出多少钱，去什么国家、什么目的。
And there are still criticisms about the quality of Chinese-funded projects. In one case, workers at a Chinese-run mine in Zambiaprotestedpoor working conditions enabled by corrupt business dealings. It is difficult to monitor projects without knowing that they exist or how much money is spent.
还有关于中国资助的项目质量的批评。在一个案例中，在中国在赞比亚办矿提出抗议，抗议因腐败带来的恶劣的工作环境。这很难监控项目，不知道项目是否真实存在或者项目具体花了多少钱。
Both Dollar and Parks hope that the publication of the data will encourage China to publish accounts of its spending. There is "a real hunger among Chinese technocrats" to have this data to do their job, Parks says. In the meantime, the AidData team will continue to try and track Chinese development spending and publish it so researchers can study the country's spending habits and try to measure its various impacts.
Dollar and Parks希望数据的公布将鼓励中国政府公布其支出账户。有“中国专家”之称的团队将继续来分析数据。同时，该援助数据团队将继续跟踪中国的国际援助支出和发布，研究人员就可以研究该国的消费习惯和尝试来衡量援助带来的影响。
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原文来自 NPR Tom Murphy October 31, 201712:27 PM ET