Bloomberg Asks Zhao Lijian the $4 Billion Dollar Question About Its Zambian Loans: “Will China Opens Its Books?”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian faced questions yesterday by a Bloomberg reporter as to whether Beijing would do more to help alleviate investor concerns over the lack of transparency of China’s loans to Zambia. 

Zhao echoed a brief comment published on Twitter earlier this week by Wu Peng, China’s top diplomat for sub-Saharan Africa, that committed Beijing to adhering to the principle of “equal treatment” of all creditors — a key request from bondholders who are openly concerned that China and Zambia are negotiating a separate debt restructuring deal that will short-change private creditors.

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by Eric Olander

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