China’s aggregate financial support for four African countries where Portuguese is an official language amounted to US$22.6 billion between 2000 and 2014. That is according to recently published research, online news portal Macauhub reported this week.

Researcher Pedro Amakasu Raposo, from Portugal’s Lusíada University, led the study. His research showed China’s combined official aid for development to certain Portuguese-speaking African countries reached nearly US$11 billion between 2000 and 2014, the media outlet said.

During that period, Mozambique received US$6.5 billion, Angola benefited from US$3.9 billion, Cape Verde was handed US$439 million and Guinea-Bissau received US$126 million in official development aid from China.

The study mentioned that other finance from China via official channels amounted to US$11.6 billion; “of which US$9.8 billion were channelled to Angola, US$1.6 billion to Mozambique and US$130 million to Guinea-Bissau”, Macauhub reported. Those additional monies included official investment and foreign direct investment, according to the report.