Study title

Chinese Covid-19 Aid Campaign 2020

Dataset ID Number

FSD4005

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD4005
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd4005

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Paltemaa, Lauri (University of Turku. Centre for East Asian Studies)
• Aubié, Hermann (University of Turku. Centre for East Asian Studies)
• Sookari, Tommi (University of Turku. Centre for East Asian Studies)

Abstract

The dataset tracks the humanitarian aid campaign that the People's Republic of China launched soon after the eruption of the Covid-19 pandemic in December 2019. The dataset focuses explicitly to Chinese humanitarian aid during the first year of the CCA campaign.

The dataset tracks donations made by Chinese state and non-state actors for the purpose of treating, containing, and alleviating the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. It includes donations of both protective and medical equipment, along with cash donations and some non-medical items. In total, the dataset covers donations delivered to approximately 180 countries, non-state entities and international/regional organisations, mainly in 2020. General foreign and development aid are not included in the dataset.

The background variables in the dataset are the date of the donation, the recipient country, the region of the recipient country, the name of the recipient, the type of recipient, the name of the donor, and the type of donor.

Keywords

COVID-19; International cooperation; aid; associations; cooperation; diplomacy; international relations

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• International politics and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (A) openly available for all users without registration (CC BY 4.0).

Data Collector

• Paltemaa, Lauri (University of Turku. Centre for East Asian Studies)
• Aubié, Hermann (University of Turku. Centre for East Asian Studies)
• Sookari, Tommi (University of Turku. Centre for East Asian Studies)

Funders

• Research Council of Finland (323704)

Time Period Covered

2020

Collection Dates

2021 – 2022

Nation

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestinian Territories, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Geographical Coverage

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia (Federated States of), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestinian Territories, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Event/Process/Activity

Universe

China's global Covid-19 aid campaign

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Other sampling procedure

Data collection aimed to achieve as broad coverage as possible of the Chinese Covid-19 aid campaign worldwide. The dataset was manually compiled from open online sources and is based on publicly available information regarding donations made by Chinese state and non-state actors. The donations draw on approximately 2,000 individual sources in more than twenty languages. The sources can roughly be categorized into official websites and social media accounts (Facebook and Twitter) of Chinese embassies; Chinese state media outlets, such as Xinhua and Xinhua Silk Road Information Service, CGTN, Global Times, and People's Daily; Chinese state agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA); as well as other news outlets.

The dataset quantifies the monetary value of the donations. The monetary value is based on a) a value indicated by the source, b) a value calculated on the basis of price estimate and the number of donated items. If the number of donated items was indicated in the source, this was used to estimate the value. Otherwise, the number of donated items was estimated for example by using photographs of donation ceremonies and the donated items.

Donations with multiple donors and/or recipients were disaggregated at least at the level of donor/recipient types, or at the level of individual donors/recipients if possible. If the number of donated items by donor/recipient (groups) was known, that was recorded to the dataset, otherwise the number of donated items was divided by donors/recipients.

All monetary values are in United States dollars. If the source indicated the value in a different currency, it was converted to USD at the exchange rate applicable at the time of the donation

Collection Mode

Content coding

Research Instrument

Data collection guidelines: Secondary data collection guide

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: English.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Number of Cases and Variables

38 variables and 2623 cases.

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

General foreign and development aid are not included in the dataset, nor are donations to the Chinese diaspora. Besides donations, China sold the same items and equipment across the globe. The commercial exports of these medical equipment and PPE are not included in the dataset.

In case a donation included both medical and non-medical items, their values were calculated separately in accordance with the two variables estimating donation value. If a donation included both medical and non-medical items and the total value was given, but the donation was not itemized, the values of medical and non-medical items were assumed to be even.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Paltemaa, Lauri (University of Turku) & Aubié, Hermann (University of Turku) & Sookari, Tommi (University of Turku): Chinese Covid-19 Aid Campaign 2020 [dataset]. Data version 1.0 (2025-11-14). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd4005; URN: https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD4005

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Aubié, Hermann, Lauri Paltemaa, and Tommi Sookari. 2025. 'China's Covid-19 Aid Diplomacy in 2020: Patterns and Motivations'. The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 20 (1): 69-100. https://doi.org/10.1163/1871191x-bja10200.

Paltemaa, Lauri, Hermann Aubié, and Tommi Sookari. 2025. 'Building the Image of China as a 'Responsible Major Country” in Advanced Economies: Did Beijing's Covid-19 Aid Campaign Work?' European Journal of East Asian Studies 24 (1): 26-50. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700615-02401006.