Question: According to a recent study, China spent $240 billion bailing out 22 developing countries between 2008 and 2021. With the amount increasing in recent years, those countries have struggled to pay Belt and Road loans. What’s China’s comment on this? 

Due to various external factors, debt risks facing developing countries have recently risen significantly. Some people have exploited this situation by falsely accusing China of “debt traps” and “opaque loans”. China does not accept this.

China has always been committed to supporting developing countries in their socioeconomic development. Insufficient funding is a bottleneck issue for many countries in their pursuit of prosperity and rejuvenation. In light of their respective need for development, China has focused our outbound investment and financing cooperation on infrastructure and production to help developing countries enhance the capacity for self-generated and sustainable development. Over the years, China has helped African countries build and upgrade more than 10,000 kilometers of railways, 100,000 kilometers of roads, nearly 1,000 bridges and nearly 100 ports. This has contributed to these countries’ economy and peoples’livelihood and delivered tangible benefits to the local communities.

China has always carried out investment and financing cooperation with developing countries based on the principle of openness and transparency. China acts in accordance with the laws of the market and international rules and respects the will of others. We never force others to borrow from us or forcibly ask any country for debt repayment. We never attach any political strings to loan agreements, or seek any selfish political interests. China attaches importance to debt sustainability, and has issued the guiding principles on financing the development of the Belt and Road and a framework for debt sustainability analysis in collaboration with countries concerned to help partner countries improve their debt management capacity. To date, none of the partner countries have accepted the claim that the Belt and Road Initiative has created “debt traps”.

China has always done its utmost to help developing countries ease their debt burden. President Xi Jinping announced that China would re-channel US$10 billion its SDR of the IMF to Africa, and work is underway to deliver his pledge. China has fully implemented the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative, ranks the first among G20 members in terms of deferral amount, and has participated in debt treatment of country-specific cases together with the members concerned. World Bank statistics show that multilateral financial institutions and commercial creditors account for more than 80% of the sovereign debt of developing countries. It is imperative that these institutions participate in debt treatment guided by the principle of joint actions and fair burden-sharing.

On the debt issue, developing countries know best from their own experience who is a sincere and reliable friend and who is a rumour-monger with ulterior motives. This is also quite clear to people with insights across the world.