External publications

Sweden’s antithesis: China in United Nations development work

Haug, Sebastian
External Publications (2026)

in: Malin Oud / Oscar Almén (eds.), China as a global development actor: transforming the international aid landscape, EBA Report 2025:08, Stockholm: The Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA), 116-143

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This chapter examines China’s engagement with the United Nations (UN) development work through a comparison with Sweden. Both countries are UN member states, but differ on most indicators, including development experiences and trajectories as development cooperation providers. The chapter provides an overview of China’s and Sweden’s general profiles and compares funding practices, strategic priorities and approaches to multilateral cooperation. From a Swedish perspective, the features of China’s approach relative to Sweden’s engagement point to areas of concern, particularly regarding China’s challenge to the relative autonomy of UN bureaucracies and the human rights agenda. At the same time, there might be potential opportunities for closer coordination – notably with regard to the two countries’ complementary funding practices – in a moment of extraordinary upheaval at the UN.

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