China News Service, Beijing, July 14 (Liang Xiaohui and Xie Yanbing) Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin hosted a regular press conference on July 14.
A reporter asked: Recently, the British charity "Debt Justice" released a report, citing data from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other institutions, citing data from institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It believes that the debt of African countries borrowed from Western private financial institutions is three times the debt borrowed from China, and the interest rate is China twice called on Western countries to urge private financial institutions to participate in the G20 debt relief initiative.
what opinions do the Chinese have on this issue?
Wang Wenbin: I have noticed relevant reports.
According to data from the World Bank, of the total foreign debt of 49 African countries with available data of US$696 billion, borrowing from multilateral financial institutions and private financial institutions (excluding China, the same below) accounted for about three-quarters.
A survey of 24 African countries with the highest debt burdens by Debt Justice shows that these countries will pay their median debt payments to private financial institutions and multilateral financial institutions over the next seven years at 32% and 35% respectively.
The average loan interest rate of Western private financial institutions is almost twice that of Chinese financial institutions.
Facts have proved that the so-called "China Debt Trap Theory" is just a "discourse trap" created by those forces that do not want to see the accelerated development of China's cooperation with developing countries such as Africa.
As the head of Debt Justice pointed out, “The West is diverting attention by blaming China for the African debt crisis. In fact, their own banks, asset managers and oil traders are far more to blame. ."
We call on developed countries and their private financial institutions and international multilateral financial institutions to take stronger actions in providing financial support to developing countries and easing their debt burdens, so as to help the world economy achieve inclusive and sustainable development.
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