China Committed to Zambia Debt Issue - China Foreign Ministry

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang Wenbin, issued a statement on Tuesday about China’s role in Zambia’s debt easing.

Wang Wenbin, who is also deputy director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department, insisted that China would continue to play a constructive role in debt settlement. He added that China considers Zambia a friend and took Zambian concerns about its debt seriously.

On Monday, the Zambian government clarified that it is not the case that it does not support China’s call for the World Bank and other multilateral lenders to manage Zambia’s debt restructuring. 

Minister of Finance and National planning Situmbeko Musoktwane explained that Zambia is “in no position to reject any proposals between China and the World Bank.” He also said that the Financial Times’ transcript of its interview with him had a headline that “did not accurately reflect the minister’s comments or Zambia’s position”. The Financial Times has changed the article’s headline.

Wang Wenbin also claimed that China was the first international official creditor to implement debt relief for Zambia. He asserted that Western commercial creditors and multilateral financial institutions should take steps of their own to ease Zambia’s debt, citing that they account for 70% of Zambia’s foreign debt. He did not mention, however, that the 70% is the total of all Western creditors’ credit, and that China is the largest single creditor by far at 30%.

Wang Wenbin reminded Zambia of all it owed to China, insisting that “the Zambian government and people are well aware of China’s positive contribution to promoting Zambia’s national construction and sustainable development, as well as the settlement of the Zambian debt issue”. Zambia’s debt has yet to be settled.  

Mr. Wang closed his statements optimistically, declaring that “Zambia’s debt restructuring requires mutual understanding, mutual trust and joint efforts by all stakeholders to find the best solution”. When asked about who China was communicating with, he said that China would continue to correspond closely with Zambia.