Green finance for soft power: An analysis of China's green policy signals and investments in the Belt and Road Initiative

In this paper, I study why and how China uses green overseas finance in its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to build soft power. I apply Miskimmon et al.'s framework, which postulates that soft power is built on 'signals' and 'action': I study eleven relevant Chinese BRI government and sector-led signals in green BRI development and analyze Chinese green versus non-green energy investments as actions. I find that Chinese regulators and financial institutions have provided multiple signals for greening finance in the BRI, while green finance action is insufficient with continued sponsoring of non-green investments. The paper concludes that green finance is a tool for China to build soft power in the BRI, but it is applied insufficiently due to a lack of green finance action. The paper also finds that insufficient strength of soft power signals can lead to a dichotomy between soft power signals and action with possible negative consequences for soft power.