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Ex China central bank exec: Debt trap accusations a ‘smear’

Amanda Lee in Beijing and Luna Sun, South China Morning Post
Posted at Apr 23 08:12 AM

Former central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan says Chinese lending has long-term economic benefits and is asked for by debtor countries. Read more »

EU wants to rival China’s belt and road in Africa

Jevans Nyabiage, South China Morning Post
Posted at Feb 07 01:47 PM

The EU's plans for the upcoming Africa summit in Brussels include the launch of an ‘ambitious’ package, after its Global Gateway pledge to mobilize up to €300 billion. But divisions within the bloc on how much and what to fund risk reducing it all to a simple rebranding of existing project allocations, observers warn. Read more »

China is not trapping Africa in debt: foreign minister

Hillary Orinde, Agence France-Presse
Posted at Jan 07 08:18 AM

China's foreign minister said his country's considerable lending to Africa was not a strategy to extract diplomatic and commercial concessions. Read more »

Laos opens scenic railway built on a mountain of Chinese debt

Lisa Martin and Pathom Sangwongwanich, Agence France-Presse
Updated as of Dec 20 06:37 AM

Laos opened a new $6 billion rail link with China to much fanfare this month, but analysts warn the government faces a potential debt crisis. Read more »

China denies it may claim airport if Uganda defaults on loan

Elias Biryabarema, Reuters
Posted at Nov 29 05:28 PM

China has rejected allegations that it may grab Uganda's sole international airport if the east African country fails to service a $200 million loan for the expansion of the facility. Read more »

Study: Zambia’s Chinese debts nearly doubled the official count

Jevans Nyabiage, South China Morning Post
Posted at Sep 29 01:02 PM

The administration of Zambia’s former president Edgar Lungu may have underplayed the burden of Chinese loans among its external creditors, a new report from a US-based research program shows. Read more »

Samoa's disputed leader promises Chinese-backed port at a third of the cost

Jonathan Barrett, Reuters
Posted at Jun 10 08:01 AM

SYDNEY - Samoa's disputed leader is promising to build a port with Chinese help for $100 million, about a third of the cost proposed earlier, said sources with knowledge of the situation, as he bids to stay in power despite losing a parliamentary majority in a tight election. Read more »

Samoa to scrap China-backed port project

Jonathan Barrett, Reuters
Posted at May 20 06:41 PM

Samoa's expected new prime minister has pledged to cancel a $100 million Chinese-backed port development, calling it excessive for the small Pacific island that is already heavily indebted to China.   Read more »

China loans to Sub-Saharan Africa projects rose slightly last year— report

Jevans Nyabiage, South China Morning Post
Posted at Apr 30 01:28 PM

Chinese lenders advanced US$3.3 billion in 2020, a slight increase from 2019’s US$2.2 billion, according to the report from the multinational law firm Baker McKenzie, New Dynamics: Shifting Patterns in Africa’s Infrastructure Funding, which analyses new data from IJ Global.   Read more »

Govt again urged to disclose, audit Chinese loans

ABS-CBN News
Posted at Aug 31 05:41 PM

Activist group Akbayan on Monday again urged government to disclose and audit all Chinese loans as the country's top diplomat proposed the termination of Manila's contracts with Beijing firms involved in West Philippine Sea reclamation activities. Read more »

Poor countries face a debt crisis 'unlike anything we have seen'

Mary Williams Walsh and Matt Phillips, The New York Times
Posted at Jun 01 09:19 PM

From Angola to Jamaica to Ecuador to Zambia, the world’s poor countries have had their finances shredded by the global pandemic.   Read more »

China lent billions to poor countries. They can’t pay it back.

Maria Abi-Habib and Keith Bradsher, The New York Times
Posted at May 19 05:09 AM

As the coronavirus spread around the globe, Pakistan’s foreign minister called his counterpart in Beijing last month with an urgent request: The country’s economy was nose-diving, and the government needed to restructure billions of dollars of Chinese loans.   Read more »

Australia to step up challenge to China in Pacific with new investment

Colin Packham, Reuters
Posted at Jun 13 03:18 PM

Australia will soon offer millions of dollars in funding for infrastructure projects in the Pacific, two sources familiar with the plan told Reuters, as part of its efforts to undercut Chinese influence.   Read more »

Cambodia PM dismisses fears of Chinese debt trap

Reuters
Posted at May 30 04:48 PM

PHNOM PENH - Prime Minister Hun Sen dismissed on Thursday fears that Cambodia was falling into a Chinese "debt trap", saying its loans are low interest, low risk and were not a threat to national independence. Read more »