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Chinese: We can't fill aid gap
By Ben Blanchard |
September 15, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE world should not expect China to step in and fill the void left by developed countries' cutting aid to developing ones during the struggle to recover from the financial crisis, an official said yesterday.
China, which by some estimates has overtaken Japan as the world's second-largest economy, still has too many development problems of its own, said Vice Commerce Minister Yi Xiaozhun.
"The international community should not ask China to replace developed countries, to assume their obligations," Yi told a news conference ahead of a visit by Premier Wen Jiabao to the United Nations for a development summit next week.
"This point should be very clear," he added.
Yi said China was simply too poor.
Though it is the holder of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves, per capita income ranks just 98th in the world, ahead of El Salvador and behind Albania.
"I wish to stress that China remains a developing country; development remains an arduous task for China in the long term," he said.
He added, though, that China would do what it could.
"Though China is not rich and still faces many development bottlenecks ... we are providing support to the extent we can to other developing countries."
He said that by 2014 the government expected annual Chinese investment in developing countries to reach about US$70 billion, up from about US$49.5 billion last year.
Much of that is likely to be from state-owned companies, especially those involved in extracting natural resources.
"I believe this will help developing countries nurture their industries, raise tax income and help create more jobs," he said.
In 2007, the World Bank collected US$42 billion for the International Development Association, the world's largest fund for the poor. To try to match that total this year, it is tapping a deeper pool of emerging market donors, promising more strenuous oversight of how the money is used and is even prepared to let fiscally strained countries stretch out installment plans.
China, which by some estimates has overtaken Japan as the world's second-largest economy, still has too many development problems of its own, said Vice Commerce Minister Yi Xiaozhun.
"The international community should not ask China to replace developed countries, to assume their obligations," Yi told a news conference ahead of a visit by Premier Wen Jiabao to the United Nations for a development summit next week.
"This point should be very clear," he added.
Yi said China was simply too poor.
Though it is the holder of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves, per capita income ranks just 98th in the world, ahead of El Salvador and behind Albania.
"I wish to stress that China remains a developing country; development remains an arduous task for China in the long term," he said.
He added, though, that China would do what it could.
"Though China is not rich and still faces many development bottlenecks ... we are providing support to the extent we can to other developing countries."
He said that by 2014 the government expected annual Chinese investment in developing countries to reach about US$70 billion, up from about US$49.5 billion last year.
Much of that is likely to be from state-owned companies, especially those involved in extracting natural resources.
"I believe this will help developing countries nurture their industries, raise tax income and help create more jobs," he said.
In 2007, the World Bank collected US$42 billion for the International Development Association, the world's largest fund for the poor. To try to match that total this year, it is tapping a deeper pool of emerging market donors, promising more strenuous oversight of how the money is used and is even prepared to let fiscally strained countries stretch out installment plans.
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