World Bank Hopes to Work With China to Develop Africa

Posted 13 December 2006 @ 01:39 pm EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

Addis Ababa (IBTimes.com) - The World Bank hoped to work with China to bring development to Africa and other poverty-stricken regions, the World Bank's vice-president for the Asia-Pacific said. "China has a lot of lessons to offer for other developing countries," James Adams said, after nearly a week-long tour of China.

"China's poverty reduction has been a very big part of global poverty reduction in the last decade and I think it would be very good if that experience can be more widely shared," he said. He said he had a "constructive dialogue" with a number of agencies on China's growing presence abroad, notably in Africa.

He had proposed concrete steps to work together on overseas assistance, combining the strengths of China and the World Bank, he said. "The relationship with China is clearly evolving and is becoming a very productive two-way street of exchanges in ideas," he said.

China is emerging as a major debtor in Africa, but has come under criticism for not asking enough in return from the nations that receive its loans, such as increased transparency or democratic reforms, rather seeking strategic access to resources for its hungry economy.

Chinese companies have also been subject to criticism for not paying enough attention to environmental or labour standards of projects that it helps finance.