Follow CGSP on Social Media

Listen to the CGSP Podcast

FT Article Sparks a Lot of Excitement About Chinese Debt Restructuring Deals But Details Still Remain Sparse

An FT story published over the weekend injected a burst of rare optimism into the African debt relief discussion. The article by U.S.-based Markets Correspondent Camilla Hodgson reported on last Tuesday’s remarks by Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian that Beijing had reached debt relief settlements with half of the countries who’ve applied for relief under the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative. “Now we have received debt relief requests from over 20 countries, and have reached an agreement with more than 10 of them by the end of July,” said Zhao at his regular press briefing.

This is potentially a significant breakthrough in a process that has moved much slower than African leaders and other stakeholders had hoped. While the news that China has concluded agreements with ten countries is widely seen as progress, it’s nonetheless hard to tell for sure since other than Zhao’s brief, and quite general comments on the issue last week Beijing’s failed to provide any other details.

Lead the Conversation on China

Subscribe Today to Get Full Access to The China-Global South Project

Check Out Everything You'll Get With Your Subscription

The China-Global South Daily Brief delivered to your inbox at 6AM Washington time

Full access to exclusive news and analysis from editors based in the Global South

Transcripts of CGSP’s twice-weekly podcasts

Students and teachers with a valid .edu email address are eligible for a 50% discount off monthly or yearly subscriptions. Email us to receive a discount code.

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.