And AidData said China has in recent years suffered reputational damage among developing countries, with its approval rating falling from 56 percent in 2019 to 40 percent in 2021.

Source: https://business.inquirer.net/430391/china-owed-more-than-1-trillion-in-belt-and-road-debt-report

For two decades, countries “were getting to know China as the kind of benevolent financier of big-ticket infrastructure,” said Bradley Parks, the executive director of the AidData research group at William & Mary.

Source: https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/21/china-debt-diplomacy-belt-and-road-initiative-economy-infrastructure-development/

"If African leaders are lobbying China for less infrastructure project financing, they are pushing on an open door," said Brad Parks, head of AidData, a research lab at U.S. university William & Mary that tracks Chinese overseas lending and grants.

Source: https://www.marketscreener.com/news/latest/China-s-Xi-pledges-to-support-Africa-s-industrialisation-at-BRICS--44692723/?utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=20230824

More than $185 billion was extended in the past five years alone (2016-2021), as per a report by researchers from the World Bank, Harvard Kennedy School, AidData, and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Source: https://www.canindia.com/china-spent-240-bn-on-20-countries-in-rescue-lending/