Chinese overseas lending / VNM
Viet Nam: debt owed to China
In 2021, Viet Nam is estimated to have owed China $10.27bn, equal to 2.8% of its GDP, which ranks it 12 of 126 borrowers in the panel by dollars owed. The estimated stock peaked at $13.35bn in 2019.
The estimated stock, 2000 to 2021
The largest single-year move in the estimated stock is 2020, when it fell by $1.92bn.
Source: Horn, Reinhart and Trebesch, China’s Overseas Lending. Selection: estimated stock owed to China by Viet Nam, 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 22 loan-level records for Viet Nam as part of its debt-estimate sample, spanning 2000 to 2017. Comparable commitments are available for 22 of those loans and sum to $8.48bn. 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 3 loans, grace period on 2, maturity on 4, any of the three on 4, and all three together on 2. The earlier file also carries 14 additional project rows for Viet Nam outside that sample, so they are not included in this table.
| Year | Project | Commitment, USD | Commitment, source currency | Terms | Creditor | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Duyen Hai 2 Thermal Power Plant ID: VNM_36 · Source: BU Energy | $1.80bn | 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 SPV |
| 2014 | Vinh Tan 1 Coal-Fired Thermal Power Plant with ICBC, BOC & Sinosure ID: VNM_35 · Source: BU Energy | $1.40bn | n/a | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Development Bank (CDB), China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Commercial · borrower SPV |
| 2014 | Thang Long Power Plant (600 MW) ID: VNM_34 · Source: BU Energy | $645m | n/a | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Development Bank (CDB) State-owned policy bank | Loan Commercial · borrower SPV |
| 2013 | Thai Binh 2 Coal Power Plant ID: VNM_33 · Source: BU Energy | $28m | n/a | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Development Bank (CDB) State-owned policy bank | Loan Commercial · borrower SOE |
| 2011 | Duyen Hai 1 with Sinosure ID: VNM_30 · Source: BU Energy | $1.00bn | 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 | Vung Ang Power Station ID: VNM_31 · Source: BU Energy | $673m | n/a | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Development Bank (CDB) State-owned policy bank | Loan Commercial · borrower SOE |
| 2011 | China Development Bank loans US$200 million for projects in Viet Nam ID: VNM_28 · Source: AidData | $200m | USD 200,000,000 | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity 5y | China Development Bank (CDB) State-owned policy bank | Loan Commercial · borrower SOE |
| 2010 | Eximbank loans US$300 million for Vinh Tan 2 Power Plant ID: VNM_27 · Source: AidData, BU Energy | $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 SOE |
| 2009 | EXIMbank loans US$178.5 million for phase 2 of power plant project in Uong Bi ID: VNM_23 · Source: AidData, BU Energy | $179m | USD 178,500,000 | 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 SOE |
| 2009 | Quang Ninh-1 Unit 1 ID: VNM_24 · Source: BU Energy | $176m | 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 |
| 2008 | Hai Phong Thermal Power Plant Phase II ID: VNM_22 · Source: BU Energy | $385m | 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 SOE |
| 2006 | EXIMbank loans US$225 million for Construction of Cam Pha Thermal Power Plant ID: VNM_21 · Source: AidData | $225m | USD 225,000,000 | 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 SOE |
| 2006 | China pledges 147 USD in export-buyers credits to Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries Group ID: VNM_18 · Source: AidData | $147m | USD 147,000,000 | 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 SOE |
| 2006 | China provides VND975 billion loan to Vietnam to upgrade signal and information systems from Vinh City to Ho Chi Minh City ID: VNM_19 · Source: AidData | $61m | VND 975,000,000,000 | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | Unspecified Chinese government agency Unspecified Chinese government agency | Loan loan type n/a · borrower Central government |
| 2005 | Chinese loan for Cat Linh--Ha Dong light rail ID: VNM_15 · Source: AidData | $419m | USD 419,000,000 | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | Unspecified Chinese government agency Unspecified Chinese government agency | Loan loan type n/a · borrower Central government |
| 2005 | Hai Phong Thermal Power Plant Phase I ID: VNM_16 · Source: BU Energy | $277m | 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 |
| 2004 | EXIMbank loans US$250 million for Ninh Binh Nitrogenous fertilizer plant ID: VNM_11 · Source: AidData | $250m | USD 250,000,000 | 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 SOE |
| 2004 | US$99.8 million in preferential loans for expansion of Dung Quat Shipyard ID: VNM_12 · Source: AidData | $100m | USD 99,800,000 | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2003 | US$64 million in concessional loan for Northern railway lines information signals ID: VNM_8 · Source: AidData | $64m | USD 64,000,000 | rate n/a | grace n/a | maturity n/a | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2003 | EXIMbank loans US$40.5 million for the Sin Quyen Copper Mine in Lao Cai ID: VNM_7 · Source: AidData | $41m | USD 40,500,000 | rate 3% | grace 5y | maturity 15y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2002 | EXIMbank loans US$85.5 million for Cao Ngan thermal plant ID: VNM_5 · Source: AidData, BU Energy | $86m | USD 85,500,000 | rate 3% | grace 3y | maturity 15y | China Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) State-owned policy bank | Loan Concessional · borrower Central government |
| 2000 | China loans Vietnam $21.5 million USD to upgrade fertilizer plant ID: VNM_2 · Source: AidData | $21m | USD 21,466,666 | rate 0% | grace n/a | maturity 10y | 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 Viet Nam 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 Viet Nam reports owing to all creditors
Viet Nam reported $139.85bn of total external debt to all creditors in 2021, of which $51.37bn is public and publicly guaranteed. The China estimate is 7.3% of the reported external total and 8.6% 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 | $10.27bn | $139.85bn | 7.3% |
| Public and publicly guaranteed | $4.43bn | $51.37bn | 8.6% |
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 Viet Nam'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