The Chinese Finance Minister said that China attaches great importance to the implementation of the G20 Debt Mitigation Initiative and that the three creditors have already deferred debt by $ 2.1 billion.

Reuters, Beijing, November 20: Liu Kun, China’s Finance Minister, stated that, as a member of the G20 and creditors of related countries, China attaches great importance to the implementation of the “Debt Payment Initiative for the Poorest Countries “of the G20. So far, the National Agency for International Development Cooperation and the Export-Import Bank of China, as official bilateral creditors, have fully implemented the debt relief requests that meet the requirements of the initiative. The amount of debt relief is US $ 1,353 million and 23 countries have benefited from it.

A press release on the official website of the Ministry of Finance on Friday quoted him as responding to journalists’ questions about the Group of 20 (G20) debt agenda and noted that the China Development Bank, as a creditor commercial, actively responded to debt relief initiatives in accordance with the principles of autonomy, voluntariness and market. The amount of debt relief signed by the beneficiary countries reached 748 million dollars.

“China is the country with the highest amount of debt relief among G20 members and has made positive contributions to help the poorest countries respond to the challenges of the epidemic and debt vulnerabilities with practical actions,” Liu Kun said.

He noted that during the implementation of the initiative, China’s official bilateral creditors and trade creditors have carried out debt mitigation actions in an orderly manner and fully negotiated with countries requesting debt mitigation to effectively guarantee that the relevant countries really benefit; at the same time, China fully respects the independence of countries requesting debt relief. Legal decisions and procedures to avoid negative effects such as damage to the credit rating of the country requesting debt mitigation.

Liu Kun also stated that China will effectively implement the extension of the debt relief initiative in accordance with the demands of the relevant countries; It will work with other multilateral and bilateral creditors to do a good job of following up on debt management work on a case-by-case basis and increasing the impact on the epidemic and pressure. Support from large developing countries; continue to encourage Chinese trade creditors, such as the China Development Bank, to engage in debt mitigation actions on a comparable basis.

In addition, China will continue to support, within its capacity, developing countries’ fight against the epidemic and economic and social recovery through multilateral and bilateral channels, including the implementation of the two-year commitment to provide US $ 2 billion. US dollars in international aid; and prioritizing developing countries in various ways. Vaccines, etc. (End up)

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