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中国现在是许多发展中国家最大的官方贷款人，美国正在IMF和世界银行的春季会议上向中国施压，要求提供更多的债务减免。波诺在2000年代领导了一场高调的公众压力运动，推动了国际货币基金组织和世界银行对陷入困境的国家免除高达100%债务的倡议。中国被认为对贷款采取了更多的交易方式，它在发展中国家金融领域的崛起有可能加剧与西方 "脱钩 "的趋势。
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美国认为，除非中国采取行动免除其部分债务，否则中国将永远得不到偿还，这一问题将在4月12日国际货币基金组织和世界银行主办的全球主权债务圆桌会议上得到解决。赞比亚、斯里兰卡、加纳、埃塞俄比亚和巴基斯坦等中国提供大量贷款的国家已经违约或处于违约的边缘。财政部长珍妮特-耶伦1月份在苏黎世与中国当时的副总理刘鹤提出了这个问题，但从那时起，中国没有采取任何重大措施来减记其债务。
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当涉及到中国的债务减免时，美国的影响力有限；然而，全球主权债务圆桌会议可能是解决困境国家主权债务重组的更广泛条款的一个有意义的方式。归根结底，美国及其西方盟友正在迫使中国提供更多的债务减免，以防止非洲和其他地区的贫困加深。
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IMF总裁Kristalina Georgieva最近访问了中国，并表示中国高层官员表示愿意在解决债务方面进行合作。她指出，处理债务的多个机构必须加快参与的速度。中国反驳了有关其贷款的说法，并表示其对项目的融资对非洲等地区的发展起到了核心作用。
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中国外交部发言人毛宁驳斥了美国财政部长珍妮特-耶伦最近的言论，并表示中国与发展中国家的投融资合作是基于国际规则和公开透明的原则进行的，没有附加任何政治条件或谋求任何自私的政治利益。
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一位中国央行高级官员说，除非世界银行和其他区域开发银行也同意减记自己的贷款，否则中国不愿意参与主权债务重组。世界银行驳斥了这一要求，认为开发银行的融资已经有了低利率，并不会大大增加一个国家的债务负担。
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自2017年以来，中国已成为世界上最大的官方债权人，超过了世界银行、国际货币基金组织和巴黎俱乐部的总和。这要归功于他们的 "一带一路 "倡议，该倡议使他们向发展中国家贷款超过8000亿美元。这种贷款的商业利率往往高于其他政府和开发银行，而债务减免通常是以宽限期的形式进行。
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中国的贷款分散在不同的机构中，使得债务重组变得困难。这使得其他官方债权人和私营部门的债券持有人不愿意出手，因为他们担心减记的节余会被用来偿还欠中国的债务。这使得国际货币基金组织无法向绝望的国家提供金融支持。
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然而，这个问题有希望以一种实际的方式得到解决。美国政府采取的观点是，这是一个需要金融解决方案的金融问题，中国必须参与，才能得到偿还。没有必要说服中国，因为这些国家已经违约了。
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China is now the largest official lender to many developing countries, and the US is pressing China to provide more debt relief at the IMF and World Bank spring meetings. Bono led a high-profile public pressure campaign in the 2000s which boosted the IMF and World Bank’s initiative to forgive up to 100% debt in struggling countries. China is seen as having a more transactional approach to lending, and its ascendance in developing country finance threatens to add to the trend of “decoupling” from the West.
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The US is arguing that China will never get repaid unless it moves to forgive some of its debt, and the issue will come to a head on April 12 when the IMF and World Bank host the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable. Zambia, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Ethiopia and Pakistan, where China has lent heavily, have defaulted or are on the cusp of doing so. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen raised the issue with China’s then-Vice Premier Liu He in January in Zurich, but since then China has not taken any significant steps to write down its debt.
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The US has limited leverage when it comes to China’s debt relief; however, the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable could be a meaningful way to address the broader terms of restructuring sovereign debt in distressed countries. Ultimately, the US and its Western allies are pressing China to provide more debt relief in order to prevent deepening poverty in Africa and elsewhere.
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IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva recently visited China and said that top Chinese officials expressed a willingness to cooperate on debt resolution. She noted that the multiple institutions dealing with debt must speed up their participation. China rebuffs claims about its lending and states that its financing of projects has been central to development in regions such as Africa.
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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning rejected U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s recent comments and stated that China carries out investment and financing cooperation with developing countries based on international rules and the principle of openness and transparency, without attaching any political strings or seeking any selfish political interests.
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A senior Chinese central bank official said that China is reluctant to participate in sovereign debt restructuring unless the World Bank and other regional development banks also agree to write down their own loans. The World Bank dismissed this demand, arguing that development bank financing already comes with low interest rates and does not add significantly to a country’s debt burden.
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China has become the largest official creditor in the world since 2017, surpassing the World Bank, IMF, and Paris Club combined. This is due to their Belt and Road Initiative, which has seen them lend over $800 billion to developing countries. This lending often comes at higher commercial rates than other governments and development banks, and debt relief is usually in the form of a grace period.
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China’s lending is decentralized amongst various institutions, making it difficult to restructure debt. This has made other official creditors and private sector bondholders reluctant to make a move, as they fear the savings from a write-down would be used to pay off debt owed to China. This has prevented the IMF from providing financial support to desperate countries.
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However, there is hope that the issue can be addressed in a practical manner. The US administration is taking the view that this is a financial problem that needs a financial solution, and China must participate in order to get repaid. There is no need to convince China, as the countries have already defaulted.