The U.S. and International Monetary Funding have for decades been the globe’s lenders of last resort, stepping in to provide emergency loans to countries in financial distress. But a new study published Tuesday shows how China has emerged as a new global heavyweight. China provided 128 rescue loans in 22 countries from 2008 to 2021, according to researchers from the U.S.-based research lab AidData, the World Bank, Harvard Kennedy School, and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.