Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner speaks during a session of the lower house of the Bundestag in the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, September 27, 2023. Portal/Liesa Johannssen/File Photo Acquire LICENSE RIGHTS
BERLIN, Oct 1 (Portal) – Germany welcomed China’s support for the G20 debt restructuring framework for poorer countries in a joint statement after the financial dialogue in Frankfurt at the weekend.
“We welcome the fact that the Chinese side is also committed to this in our joint declaration, because solutions are unthinkable without China as such an important player in world politics,” said Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Sunday after his meeting with China Vice Premier He Lifeng.
Neither provided further details on the rules governing the restructuring plans, nor were any specific details provided in the joint statement.
A source told Portal in April that China was expected to withdraw its demand for multilateral development banks to share losses with other creditors in restructuring sovereign debt for poor countries.
It was not immediately clear on Sunday whether this had happened.
Some countries, such as Germany, have argued that Beijing should make concessions to speed up debt restructuring, as China is by far the largest creditor of many heavily indebted countries in Africa and Asia.
During the talks on Sunday, Germany and China also showed their determination to expand market access opportunities between the two countries.
“This creates opportunities for more responsible trade and investments on both sides,” said Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Sunday.
China is willing to work with Germany to advance “mutually beneficial” cooperation and add more “positive energy” to their partnership, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday, citing He.
High-ranking representatives of the countries’ central banks and supervisory authorities as well as company representatives took part in the third financial dialogue between Berlin and Beijing.
“It is important to me to emphasize that for the first time in the history of the financial dialogue we have set up a financial roundtable with representatives from important financial institutions and private companies,” said Lindner.
Lindner suggested increasing the frequency of financial dialogues between China and Germany and holding these meetings annually instead of every two years, as both countries want faster progress. “In politics, two years is a long time, but in financial matters, two years is an eternity,” said Lindner.
The meeting took place in Frankfurt because Germany wants to further strengthen this city as a European center for financial services, said the finance minister.
Reporting by Maria Martinez; Additional reporting by Ryan Woo in Beijing; Edited by Alison Williams and Stephen Coates
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