Why pessimists are wrong about Chinese economy

PARTNER WITHOUT POLITICAL STRINGS

The Western media continue to accuse China of laying "debt traps" worldwide, particularly in developing countries.

Lending is simply an economic transaction to acquire external finance for economic development, while debt with harsh political conditions or malicious purposes are "traps." The West's hype is aimed at politicizing economic issues and tarnishing China's cooperation with other countries.

In fact, China's portion of the external debt of many developing countries is smaller than some realize.

Until 2020, Latin America was the region with the highest debt ratio in the world. Most of the region's foreign debt comes from the international financial markets, with Wall Street and some Western commercial banks as the leading players, not China, Zhou Yuyuan, a senior research fellow with Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told Xinhua.

Similar cases can be seen in Africa, Zhou said, noting that the amount of money borrowed from the private financial sector has risen rapidly, becoming the largest source of external debt.

Moreover, although China has not offered as many loans as Western banks, its investment and loans are more welcomed.

According to an article in The Diplomat magazine, many low- and middle-income countries prefer Chinese investment over U.S. and European alternatives, since rich countries see developing countries as high risk and low reward and often impose onerous conditions.

As the world's second-largest economy, China offers exciting market opportunities for all countries, injecting momentum into global economic growth.

"The rise of China, and its powerhouse economy, remains by far the most important story of the 21st century," said one opinion piece in The Telegraph.

While there may be some bumps in the short term, China's long-term economic development remains a sure bet.