Chinese lenders have used legal contracts to give them a hidden advantage over other creditors when lending to low-income countries, in a trend which threatens to undermine global debt relief efforts, according to research.
Many of the contract terms were unusually strict and gave Chinese loans priority for repayment while prohibiting borrowers from restructuring their Chinese debts in co-ordination with other creditors, the report published on Wednesday said.
It was drawn up by analysts at research lab AidData at the College of William & Mary in the US, along with the Center for Global Development, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the Peterson Institute for International Economics.