China in the Multilateral Development System

This paper updates an earlier analysis of China’s role across multilateral development banks, vertical funds, and development-oriented UN entities, examining China as shareholder, contributor, borrower, recipient, and institutional actor. It also estimates China’s attributable multilateral climate finance under the accounting approach relevant to the $300 billion climate finance goal agreement at COP29. We find that China’s contributions to the development-oriented multilaterals covered have grown more than tenfold since 2010, reaching over $3 billion in 2024, but remain highly selective. Recent growth is concentrated in multilateral development bank concessional windows, especially the International Development Association, and in attributable multilateral development bank climate finance, which reached $5.3 billion by 2025. China remains a modest vertical fund donor and a limited voluntary UN funder. These trends, alongside China’s likely transition to high-income status, matter for debates about multilateral burden sharing and institutional reform.