Video introduction to the Chinese NGO Internationalization Database

The Belt and Road Research Platform, a joint initiative by the LeidenAsiaCentre and the Clingendael China Centre, recently launched the Chinese NGO Internationalization Database. A video interview with Ying Wang, PhD student at Leiden University and compiler of the database, has now been published. In the interview, Ying Wang introduces the database, explains its use for both academics and NGOs, and discusses the internationalization of Chinese NGOs, including its relation to the Belt and Road Initiative.

The Chinese NGO Internationalization Database contains information on the international humanitarian and development assistance projects and donations of Chinese non-governmental organisation (NGOs). The database hopes to assist scholarly work on the topic of Chinese NGOs going international and to be of use to NGOs themselves.

Click here to read a full introduction to the Chinese NGO Internationalization Database.

Chinese NGOs have been undergoing a process of internationalization in the last 10 years, expanding their development and humanitarian activities overseas. This is increasingly a topic of interest, as the Chinese government regards these NGOs as a major instrument for building “People-to-People Bonds”, one of the five top Cooperation Priorities（“五通”）of the Belt and Road Initiative.

While the overseas activity of Chinese NGOs is a topic of academic interest for both NGO scholars and contemporary China scholars, literature on the issue is often limited to case studies on individual NGOs. There is a paucity of studies from a macro perspective. One apparent reason is that there is lack of data on Chinese NGO donations and projects overseas.