Facing the so-called "debt trap" in American media, the real culprit has been found! Journalist Visits Overseas Project Countries of Chinese Enterprises | China | Reporter

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the "the Belt and Road" initiative, the western media held the "hell filter" to discredit it. A few days ago, the Associated Press produced a long article titled "China's Loans Pushing the World's poorest Countries to the brink of collapse", which once again stigmatized China's "the Belt and Road" initiative and plunged countries along the route into a "debt trap".

What is the truth? Xinhua News Agency's multi country reporters in Africa and the Asia Pacific region visited Chinese enterprises' overseas projects on the spot. Through research, they not only falsified the so-called "China's debt trap theory", but also found out that the real culprit that has led developing countries into debt difficulties is precisely the high interest loans of western countries.

This is the Mansehra Tacot second-class highway section of Pakistan Karakoram Highway Phase II Project photographed on July 28, 2020. Shen Jizhong

Data reveals the truth

The Associated Press article accuses China of creating a so-called "debt trap", claiming that countries such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Kenya are "victims", but this is not the case.

According to official data from Xinhua News Agency, as of April this year, Pakistan's total external debt was $125.702 billion, of which $20.375 billion was from China, accounting for 16.2% of Pakistan's total external debt; As of March this year, Sri Lanka's current external debt is 27.6 billion US dollars, with private creditors accounting for the largest proportion at 53.6%, multilateral creditors accounting for 20.7%, and China accounting for 10.9%; As of March this year, Kenya's total external debt was 36.66 billion US dollars, of which 46.3% came from multilateral financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and 17.2% came from various entities in China.

The experts interviewed by the investigation report also pointed out that the irresponsible monetary policy of the United States is the real reason for the concentrated outbreak of debt problems in developing countries. The United States first implemented an ultra loose monetary policy, allowing a large influx of low interest US dollars into Africa and emerging market countries. Then, it aggressively raised interest rates, attracting the US dollar to flow back to the United States, leading to insufficient liquidity in developing countries, broken funding chains, currency depreciation, and skyrocketing debt pressure denominated in US dollars.

There are other reasons why the West slanders China

Since China is not the largest creditor of developing countries, why does the West still hype "China's debt trap theory"? The answer is that China's "the Belt and Road" initiative helps developing countries improve their economic "hematopoietic capacity". Once these countries achieve independent economic development, they do not need to rely on borrowing money from western developed countries to maintain production and life, which is tantamount to cutting off a financial path for western countries.

Some developing countries suffer from Western debt. In an interview and investigation, experts and officials from Africa told Xinhua News Agency that "African countries have been struggling to pay interest on loans from Western financial institutions for a long time". "Before China, for Africa, if they wanted capital, they would go to Paris, where capital was expensive. If they went to New York, where capital was even more expensive. If they went to London, where capital was" skyrocketing "."

The netizen "Strong Challenger 2269" bluntly said, "If Western governments and media tell you that you are trapped in China's' debt trap ', it proves that you have done the right thing. When dealing with information promoted by Western media and government, you have to look at it in the opposite direction."

Another netizen left a message saying, "The International Monetary Fund is responsible for the chaos in Pakistan and other Asian countries, and this is clear enough. The West is trying to control the Asian economy by imposing sanctions on China."

Chinese investment is popular

Ultimately, repaying debts relies on developing the economy. Solving the debt problems of developing countries not only requires addressing the symptoms through debt management and other means, but also addressing the root cause by enhancing their independent and sustainable development capabilities. China provides loans to developing countries in the "the Belt and Road" cooperation, mainly for infrastructure and industrial construction in developing countries, which is conducive to improving the basic conditions for economic development and enhancing the "hematopoietic capacity" of the economy.

The survey report cited relevant data to point out that since the proposal of the "the Belt and Road" initiative was put forward 10 years ago, it has boosted the investment scale of nearly trillion dollars, formed more than 3000 cooperation projects, created 420000 jobs for countries along the line, and lifted nearly 40 million people out of poverty.

The Central African Policy Research Center, an African think tank, pointed out that in the past 20 years, China has undoubtedly become a "leader" in the African market, while the United States can only look up to it.

Netizen Liana Freis exclaimed, "China, please help Angola. Almost all African countries have endured the bad treatment of European countries, and they should have a turning point."

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Produced by the International Department of Xinhua News Agency