JOHANNESBURG, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Developing nations are now paying more to service debt owed to China than they receive in new loans, a shift that risks deepening economic strain and slowing climate investment, a report released on Friday by Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center found.
The study, titled Reviving Chinese Development Finance in the Global South, revealed that net debt transfers—calculated as new loan disbursements minus principal and interest repayments—turned negative in 2022 and 2023, with developing nations repaying $3.9 billion more annually than they borrowed.
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China, the world’s largest bilateral creditor, has historically played a key role in financing infrastructure projects across the Global South, committing over $472 billion through its policy banks—the China Development Bank and Export-Import Bank—between 2008 and 2024.
These funds supported more than 900 projects worth $316 billion in transport, energy, information technology, and water infrastructure, which
Developing nations rack up $3.9 bln in net debt payments to China a year, study finds
