Illustration: Tang Tengfei/GT

Several Western media outlets in recent weeks have published articles hyping a so-called debt trap and blaming China for casting "giant shadow over emerging nations' chase for debt relief."

VOA Chinese said in a report released Monday that finance ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations made special mention of China in May, and hope China could lend a hand to debtor countries and extend debt relief. The report said China has kept a low profile and had yet to make any statement in response so far. 

China is not a member of the G7. We don't understand why some in the West believe China has a responsibility to respond to G7' expectations. The reported silence doesn't mean a reluctance to the issue of debt relief. As early as nearly two years ago, when developing countries started to feel the headwinds of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun said in November 2020 that China has extended debt relief to developing countries worth a combined $2.1 billion under the G20 framework, the highest among the group's members in terms of the amount deferred, according to Reuters.

The ulterior motive behind the slander by the Western media is to drive a wedge between China and over-indebted developing countries. The outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted the world economy, with some over-indebted developing economies bear the brunt. Some in the West are trying to seize this chance to create trouble, stir up disputes, and sow dissension between debtor countries and China.

The global economy is slowing, with developed rich countries such as the US feeling the bite of an extended inflationary surge. On the back of the risk of recession, some rich countries reluctant to write off debt and provide immediate relief to over-indebted developing countries. They try to bring China to the fore, and deliberately portray China as a big creditor, hoping to shift over-indebted countries' attention away from themselves to blaming China.

In fact, the Western private lenders are the main creditor of many developing and underdeveloped countries. Analysis of World Bank data by campaign group Debt Justice showed that African countries' debts with China are a third of what they owe non-Chinese private lenders, while interest rates are just over half, Reuters reported on Monday.

Sri Lanka's debt structure also tells a similar story. As of last April, international capital market borrowing accounts for 47 percent of the country's total debt, while China only owns 10 percent, according to data from the country's Department of Foreign Resources.

For a long time, Chinese investment has brought many development opportunities to emerging countries. In recent years, under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative, there have been more large-scale foreign contracted projects in infrastructure construction, which has promoted regional connectivity and accelerated local prosperity. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, China's industry-wide outbound investment in 2021 was $145.19 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.2 percent, exceeding the pre-pandemic level. 

Hyping the so-called debt-trap narrative, Western countries are benefiting from creating dissension between China and emerging economies. It has been proven countless times that when the global economy is at risk, profit-seeking Western private capital will not hesitate to sell emerging market assets, thereby aggravating the financial risks and economic difficulties of these economies. While demonizing and smearing Chinese investment, Western countries often attach political strings to their investments to developing countries and interfere in the internal affairs of these sovereign countries.

At this critical juncture of post-pandemic recovery, emerging economies that rely on manufacturing and exports are still very vulnerable in the face of irresponsible macroeconomic policies and weak demand from Western countries. Strengthening mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation among each other will help developing countries grasp opportunities to realize rapid economic rebound and build up long-term economic strength.