Chinese overseas lending / MOZ
Mozambique: debt owed to China
In 2021, Mozambique is estimated to have owed China $3.66bn, equal to 22.6% of its GDP, which ranks it 33 of 126 borrowers in the panel by dollars owed. The estimated stock peaked at $3.66bn in 2021.
The estimated stock, 2000 to 2021
The largest single-year move in the estimated stock is 2017, when it rose by $648m.
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending. Selection: estimated stock owed to China by Mozambique, by year and instrument, 2000 to 2021. Zeros are estimated zeros (no known loans outstanding), not missing values. Methodology
Historical loan records from the 2021 release
These records come from the 2021 HRT Mendeley replication release, not the November 2025 refreshed stock panel charted above. The refresh uses the updated Franz, Horn, Parks, Reinhart and Trebesch methodology, so this table cannot be reconciled to the chart. The earlier release marks 17 loan-level records for Mozambique as part of its debt-estimate sample, spanning 2001 to 2017. Comparable commitments are available for 17 of those loans and sum to $2.38bn. These are gross commitments, not outstanding debt stocks. The stock methodology applies disbursement and amortisation profiles, with imputation where loan terms are missing, so the commitment sum must not be compared with the stock above. See the methodology. Terms are sparse by source: interest rate appears on 6 loans, grace period on 3, maturity on 3, any of the three on 6, and all three together on 3. The earlier file also carries 40 additional project rows for Mozambique outside that sample, so they are not included in this table.
| Year | Project | Commitment, USD | Commitment, source currency | Terms | Creditor | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Digital Migration ID: MOZ_57 · Source: JH CARI | $156m | n/a | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan loan type n/a · borrower Central government |
| 2017 | Coral South FLNG ID: MOZ_56 · Source: JH CARI | $150m | n/a | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im), Bank of China (BOC), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Multiple commercial creditors | Loan Commercial · borrower SPV |
| 2014 | EXIM Bank Finances $133 million USD Telecom Deal in Mozambique ID: MOZ_55 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $133m | USD 133,000,000 | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan loan type n/a · borrower Central government |
| 2014 | China EXIM Bank offers $120 million soft loan to Mozambique for rehabilitation of the fishing port ID: MOZ_54 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $120m | USD 120,000,000 | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan loan type n/a · borrower Central government |
| 2013 | Exim Bank of China loans 416.5 million USD for Beira-Machipanda road rehabilitation in Mozambique ID: MOZ_51 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $416m | USD 416,000,000 | rate 1% | grace 7y | maturity 20y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2013 | Mozambique Presidential Palace ID: MOZ_52 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $72m | n/a | rate 1.5% | grace 7y | maturity 20y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2012 | Exim Bank gives $300mil loan for Maputo Ring Road ID: MOZ_47 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $300m | USD 300,000,000 | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan loan type n/a · borrower Central government |
| 2012 | Chokwe Agro-Processing Complex ID: MOZ_46 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $60m | n/a | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan loan type n/a · borrower Central government |
| 2011 | China Exim Bank provided $681.6 million loan for Maputo-Catembe Bridge ID: MOZ_40 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $682m | USD 681,600,000 | rate 4% | grace 5y | maturity 20y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Commercial · borrower Central government |
| 2011 | SMEs ID: MOZ_41 · Source: JH CARI | $30m | n/a | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Development Bank (CDB) State-owned policy bank | Loan Commercial · borrower SOE |
| 2010 | Second phase of Maputo International Airport Upgrade ID: MOZ_39 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $65m | USD 65,000,000 | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Commercial · borrower Central government |
| 2010 | China funds construction of Mozambican Office of Auditor-General ID: MOZ_35 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $40m | USD 40,000,000 | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2010 | China provides interest free loan for projects in Mozambique ID: MOZ_36 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $2.20m | USD 2,200,000 | rate 0% | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2009 | China provides 20 mn USD concessional loan for purchase of agricultural machinery ID: MOZ_31 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $20m | USD 20,000,000 | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2007 | First phase of Maputo International Airport Upgrade ID: MOZ_28 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $50m | USD 50,000,000 | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2006 | China Builds New National Stadium ID: MOZ_23 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $70m | USD 70,000,000 | rate 0% | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
| 2001 | Foreign Ministry Office Building ID: MOZ_16 · Source: AidData, JH CARI | $11m | n/a | rate 0% | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Ministry of Commerce (MofCom) Chinese government | Loan Zero-Interest Loan · borrower Central government |
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending (2021 Mendeley replication loan file). Selection: 2021 replication loan records mapped to Mozambique and flagged DebtEstimateSample = 1 in that release. This is an earlier source universe, not the records used for the November 2025 refreshed stock panel. CommitmentUSD is a gross commitment flow and is not comparable to the charted stock. Commitment stays in its source currency, and ProjectDescription is rendered as free-text data from the file. Methodology
Against what Mozambique reports owing to all creditors
Mozambique reported $64.43bn of total external debt to all creditors in 2021, of which $11.28bn is public and publicly guaranteed. The China estimate is 5.7% of the reported external total and 17.9% of the reported public and guaranteed stock. These are ratios of two different measurements, one estimated and one borrower-reported, and they are not a share of a single consistent total.
| Measure, 2021 | Estimated, owed China | Reported, all creditors | Ratio, % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total external debt | $3.66bn | $64.43bn | 5.7% |
| Public and publicly guaranteed | $2.02bn | $11.28bn | 17.9% |
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending (estimated stocks), and World Bank International Debt Statistics, borrower-reported via the Debtor Reporting System (all-creditor stocks). Selection: estimated external and PPG stock owed to China in 2021 against Mozambique's reported DT.DOD.DECT.CD and DT.DOD.DPPG.CD for the same year. Drawn swap balances are excluded from the estimated column: they are a central-bank liability the Debtor Reporting System's long-term-debt concepts do not carry. Methodology
Chinese restructurings involving Mozambique
1 deal recorded between Mozambique and Chinese state creditors. These are context, not accounting: the source records face-value reduction as a flag rather than a magnitude, so no haircut percentage exists for them, and nothing here is netted off the estimated stock above.
Creditor: Multiple
China reschedules a total of 2 bn USD of Mozambique's outstanding debt by extending grace periods; unclear whether maturities were also extended (conflicting information in Bon & Cheng and Acker et al.)
Acker et al. (2020), Bon and Cheng (2021)
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, Hidden Defaults (World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 9925). Selection: every recorded restructuring agreement between Mozambique and a Chinese state creditor. Face-value reduction is a 0/1 flag in the source, not a percentage; the badge appears only where the source sets it. Methodology