A Comparative Study of the Role of Economic Aid in the Foreign Policy of the United States and China

In recent decades, the role of economic instruments, including economic aid, has been growing in the foreign policy of major powers. In the post-World War II era, the United States became the largest donor of economic aid, and in order to prevent the spread of communism, it gave economic aid to many countries in different regions of the world. Although,</span> the United States has a long history of providing economic aid to other countries, China is also becoming a major donor in recent years. China tries to promote its status as a major power in granting economic aid. The comparative study of the economic aid policy of China and the United States is significant because these two countries play an important role in the international. In this regard, the main question of this research is what are the differences and similarities between the economic aid policy of China and the United States? The findings of the comparison of the economic aid of China and the United States showed that despite the differences in the methods and structures of aid, China and the United States both use the economic aid to grow their influence and achieve their economic, political and geopolitical goals in the regions. However, the US economic aid policy is more transparent than China in terms of the aid granting mechanism. Also, China legitimizes these aids by using the concepts of aid to the global south, while the economic aid of the United States legitimizes it by using concepts such as supporting market-oriented economies, helping democratic governance, and protecting human rights. The method of data collection is secondary sources – the library sources - and the method of the data analysis is comparative.