Over the last ten years, China has become a leading investor and source of financing in infrastructure in many regions, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Chinese policy banks and large state companies in the energy and transportation sectors, which have benefited from the policies of the Chinese government encouraging going out, have been the main actors in this process. Since Beijing branded this investment campaign as the “Belt and Road Initiative”, China’s overseas infrastructure investments have attracted more attention. The peculiarities of Chinese investments have been a matter of debate, especially regarding the role of the state capital and their intertwinement with international politics. It has been particularly an important question whether China’s international infrastructure investments are primarily driven by geopolitical motivations. This article conducts a discussion centred on this question through a critical literature review and an examination of empirical material on the projects as well as the operation of Chinese companies and banks. This discussion is structured into three steps. First, the structure and motivations of companies that undertake Chinese investments are examined in an attempt to understand whether it is accurate to view them as ‘tools’ serving Chinese foreign policy. Second, the characteristics of Chinese financing are discussed in light of the relationship of Chinese policy banks with the Chinese state, the market and borrowers. Finally, the paper explores the extent to which the Chinese central government has directed and controlled the implementation of investments. Although China’s international infrastructure investments are state-supported, it is primarily the commercial interests that shape the operation of Chinese companies and banks.WhileChineseleadershipmayinterveneincertainprojectsfordiplomaticpurposes, the interests of Chinese banks and companies play a significant role in designing and implementing these projects. Differing from state-centred and geopolitical-oriented interpretations, this paper argues that China’s international infrastructure investments are shaped, to a large extent, as a market-based phenomenon. Taken to a higher level of abstraction, these investments represent the internationalization of companies of a late-developing country with state support. Seen as such, it is possible to interpret Chinese investments as a form of a familiar strategy in states’ relationship with global capitalism, encompassing China’s historical and institutional peculiarities.