Paper short abstract:

INGOs in China draw on their global expertise to facilitate Chinese outbound development. At the same time, they seek to constructively shape Chinese global engagement by helping China play an increasingly equitable, sustainable and responsible global role.

Paper long abstract:

China’s proliferating outbound activity has been framed within the South-South cooperation narrative. China, in turn, shapes this narrative and is remaking our understanding of South-South cooperation and international development more broadly. But far from being a coherent global strategy advanced by a monolithic Party-state, globalizing China is constituted by diverse actors, each with their own approaches, agendas and interests, including state actors, enterprises, NGOs, individuals entrepreneurs and even non-‘Chinese’ global actors. In this paper, we uncover the role of one global actor in China’s ‘going out’—international NGOs (INGOs) operating in China. Based on over 30 interviews with INGOs between 2019-2021, we find that in response to shifting domestic conditions, INGOs have increasingly been participating in China’s globalizing project.

As Chinese infrastructure and development projects multiply, particularly with the Belt and Road Initiative, they face a decidedly mixed reception in host countries. Lacking know-how and legitimacy, Chinese actors turn to INGOs for training in international norms and for their assistance engaging with local communities in host countries. INGOs also connect Chinese projects with local partners through their NGO networks and country offices. In these ways, INGOs tell China’s development story abroad support China as an alternative development model.

But INGOs also shape China’s overseas development agenda by influencing Chinese policymakers and outbound actors, and by strengthening capacity in host countries to engage with China. They facilitate knowledge exchange around south-south cooperation and model innovations that elevate China’s governance and environmental standards abroad.