Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged international financial institutions and trade creditors to “participate” and make “efforts” to reduce and suspend developing countries’ debts.
During his participation in the G20 summit, Xi assured that these organizations “are the main creditors of developing countries” and specifically urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to “accelerate” loans to the poorest countries.
“China launched the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) and, within its framework, suspended the largest number of loans among all members,” the Chinese leader said.
Xi Jinping also said that “China also worked with some members of the G20, under the Common Framework for Debt Management, thus helping developing countries to get through a difficult time.”
Developing countries’ debt restructuring should be one of the topics at the summit, which is being held on the Indonesian island of Bali.
The Latin American partners of the G20 (Argentina, Mexico and Brazil), in particular, are interested in creating the conditions that allow them to restructure their long-term debt.
Xi further stressed that the world economy is in a “fragile” position due to the “tense geopolitical situation, inadequate global governance and the overlapping of multiple crises in areas such as food and energy.”
He called for “avoiding divisions and confrontational policies between blocks” and called on the leaders of the different countries to “work hand in hand to open new horizons of cooperation.”
The Chinese president stressed that China has proposed the G20 Action on Digital Innovation and Cooperation and is “looking forward to working with all parties to promote an open, equitable and non-discriminatory environment for the development of the digital economy, with the aim of reducing the digitization”. division between the northern and southern hemispheres.
Xi thus expressed his support for the African Union’s membership in the G20, saying the group should “always keep in mind the difficulties of developing countries and address their concerns.”
“Given the setbacks suffered by economic globalization and the risks of recession facing the world economy, we are all going through a difficult time, with developing countries being the most affected,” he added.
The Chinese leader also called for “actively” promoting the reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to advance the “structuring of an open world economy.”
“Global trade, the digital economy, the green transition and the fight against corruption are relevant factors that drive global development. We must move forward in the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment,” she added.
Xi noted that his security proposal, called the Global Security Initiative (GSI), aims to “uphold the spirit of the UN Charter, act in accordance with the principle of indivisibility of security and persist in the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security”.
China “advocates defusing conflicts through negotiations, resolving disputes through consultations, and supporting all efforts that lead to the peaceful resolution of crises.”
Regarding climate change, Xi indicated that a transition towards green and low-carbon development is needed, but for this “it is imperative to uphold the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and provide support to developing countries in terms of funds, technologies and training,” he said.
The Asian leader also spoke about what he considered the “most pressing challenge for global development”: food and energy security, whose crisis he attributed to supply chains and the lack of international cooperation.
“We must strengthen cooperation in market supervision and regulation, establish alliances in the field of raw materials, develop an open, stable and sustainable commodity market, and work together to unlock supply chains and stabilize prices in the market,” he said.
Source: TSF
