China has been a South-South cooperation provider since the early 1950s. In more recent years, it has become increasingly involved with other stakeholders in development cooperation abroad. Chinese institutions, including government departments, policy banks, think tanks and academics as well as civil society organisations (CSOs), are now actively engaged in South-South Cooperation (SSC) and trilateral cooperation (TrC) with a variety of international partners.

This Discussion Paper focuses on the trilateral cooperation between China and international development partners engaging in third countries. The purpose is to describe the “state of play” of Chinese institutions’ engagement in trilateral cooperation with international development actors and discuss lessons learnt and effective means of engagement.

The findings are intended to help strengthen the engagement and cooperation between Chinese and international development actors on development cooperation, and thus contribute to better development results and the realisation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in provider and beneficiary countries.