Which African country owes China the most money?
China loaned a total of $143 billion to African governments and state-owned enterprises between 2000 and 2017. In 2020, the African countries with the largest Chinese debt were Angola ($25 billion), Ethiopia ($13.5 billion), Zambia ($7.4 billion), the Republic of the Congo ($7.3 billion), and Sudan ($6.4 billion).
China's motivations
Brautigam's research shows that between 2000 and 2019, China canceled at least $3.4 billion of such debt in Africa.
How much money does the U.S. owe to China? China owns roughly $1.08 trillion worth of U.S. debt. 2 This amount is subject to market fluctuations. The value will change whenever China trades Treasury securities or when the prices of those bonds change.
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Botswana national debt goes up.
Date | Debt ($M) |
---|---|
2018 | 2,551 |
2019 | 2,717 |
2020 | 2,942 |
2021 | 3,551 |
This list is courtesy of a report by Statista dated December, 2021. Although the exact figures of these countries' public debts were not disclosed, the percentage of debt to GDP are clearly indicated as you can see below. Eritrea: The national debt in this Horn of Africa country stands at 175.1% of the GDP.
At the end of 2020, of the 97 countries for which data was available, Pakistan ($77.3 billion of external debt to China), Angola (36.3 billion), Ethiopia (7.9 billion), Kenya (7.4 billion) and Sri Lanka (6.8 billion) held the biggest debts to China.
Citing data collected from the World Bank, Forbes said that 97 countries across the globe are under Chinese debt. Countries heavily in debt to China are mostly located in Africa, but can also be found in Central Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
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Debt to GDP Ratio by Country 2022
- Spain (National Debt: €1.09 trillion ($1.24 USD))
- Singapore (National Debt: $350 billion ($254 billion US))
As of 2020, China's total government debt stands at approximately ¥ RMB 100024 trillion (US$ 10010.0 trillion), equivalent to about 45% of GDP. Standard & Poor's Global Ratings has stated Chinese local governments may have an additional ¥ RMB 40 trillion ($5.8 trillion) in off-balance sheet debt.
U.S. debt to China comes in the form of U.S. Treasuries, largely due to their safety and stability. Although there are worries about China selling off U.S. debt, which would hamper economic growth, doing so in large amounts poses risks for China as well, making it unlikely to happen.
Who owes the most debt to China?
Which Country Owes the Most Money to China? Venezuela is the country with the greatest sovereign debt exposure to China, in terms of direct lending (excluding portfolio holdings), according to AidData's 2021 study, totaling $74.7 billion.
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Debts and Debtors of the US Government.
Country Name | Value of Holdings (Billions of $) |
---|---|
Ireland | 288.2 |
Cayman Islands | 263.5 |
Brazil | 259.2 |
Switzerland | 229.3 |

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Zimbabwe External Debt 1970-2022.
Zimbabwe External Debt - Historical Data | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Current US $ | Annual % Change |
2019 | $12,244,515,424 | -2.98% |
2018 | $12,620,123,760 | 0.88% |
2017 | $12,510,355,251 | 9.12% |
owes China N$2.1 billion, shy of 2% of total debt portfolio.
The proposed change translates to a debt ceiling of about KSh8. 579 trillion for 2022.
Most of Africa's debts to China are owed by five states – Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia. Any scrapping of outstanding balances could usefully help rebalance their liabilities away from an overdependence on Beijing.
According to estimates, the general government debt in Cabo Verde amounted to 159 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022. This was the highest debt-to-GDP ratio measured in Sub-Saharan Africa.
More than 40% of African debt is owed to private creditors, 26.6% to bilateral creditors, and 32.5% to multilateral creditors.
A new report by Debt Justice has shown that many African countries owe three times more debts to West banks, oil traders and asset managers than they do to Chinese lenders. The report also revealed that these Western firms charge African countries double the interest rates, compared to their Chinese counterparts.
Of the 109 countries for which data are available, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Jamaica and Brazil devoted the highest proportion of their respective budgets to interest payments in 2016. Zambia was ranked in 5th place, an indication of the country's rapidly expanding debt burden.
Does America owe China money?
Foreign holders of United States treasury debt
Of the total 7.5 trillion held by foreign countries, Japan and Mainland China held the greatest portions, with China holding 970 billion U.S. dollars in U.S. securities.
There are countries such as Jersey and Guernsey which have no national debt, so the pay no interest. All this started with the Napoleonic wars when the government borrowed money to fund the war.
Ghana: The government of Ghana has a total external debt of US$ 19.4 billion. They owed US$ 1.86 billion to China (under 10 percent), while nearly half of the external debt is owed to bondholders and commercial banks, and a third to multilateral banks.
Public Debt
The public holds over $24.29 trillion of the national debt. 1 Foreign governments hold a large portion of the public debt, while the rest is owned by U.S. banks and investors, the Federal Reserve, state and local governments, mutual funds, pensions funds, insurance companies, and holders of savings bonds.
Today, a government that defaults may be widely excluded from further credit; some of its overseas assets may be seized; and it may face political pressure from its own domestic bondholders to pay back its debt. Therefore, governments rarely default on the entire value of their debt.
Debt dynamics, however, differ markedly across countries. Advanced economies and China accounted for more than 90 percent of the $28 trillion debt surge in 2020.
TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based tech giant ByteDance, is used by over 1 billion people worldwide every month.
Consequences of Owing Debt to the Chinese
If China called in all of its U.S. holdings, the U.S. dollar would depreciate, whereas the yuan would appreciate, making Chinese goods more expensive.
China has little overseas debt, and a high national savings rate. In addition, most of the debt is state owned – state-controlled banks loaned funds to state-controlled firms – giving the government the ability to manage the situation.
According to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports, Chinese investors' holdings of U.S. agricultural land surged from 13,720 acres in 2010 to 352,140 acres in 2020.
Where does China get all their money?
Key Takeaways. China's economy has grown to one of the largest and most powerful in the world over the past few decades. Driven by industrial production and manufacturing exports, China's GDP is actually now the largest in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) equivalence.
Country/Region | External debt US dollars | Date |
---|---|---|
United States | 24 trillion | June 2022 |
United Kingdom | 8.73 trillion | June 2022 |
France | 7.04 trillion | June 2022 |
Germany | 6.46 trillion | June 2022 |
- Japan. Japan held $1.3 trillion in Treasury securities as of May 2022, beating out China as the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt. ...
- China. China gets a lot of attention for holding a big chunk of the U.S. government's debt. ...
- The United Kingdom. ...
- Ireland. ...
- Luxembourg.
As of September 2022, the Japanese public debt is estimated to be approximately 9.2 trillion US Dollars (1.28 quadrillion yen), or 266% of GDP, and is the highest of any developed nation. 43.3% of this debt is held by the Bank of Japan.
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The 20 countries with the lowest national debt in 2021 in relation to gross domestic product (GDP)
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Tanzania: National debt from 2017 to 2027 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Characteristic | National debt in relation to GDP |
---|---|
2022* | 46.37% |
2021 | 52.95% |
2020 | 53.7% |
2019 | 54.7% |
In 2022, the national debt of Botswana amounted to approximately 21.26 percent of the GDP.
Actual | Previous | Lowest |
---|---|---|
69.90 | 70.70 | 27.80 |
How much is Liberia in debt?
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Liberia national debt goes up.
Date | Debt ($M) |
---|---|
2019 | 1,495 |
2020 | 1,781 |
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Jamaica: National debt in relation to gross domestic product (GDP) from 2017 to 2027.
Characteristic | National debt in relation to GDP |
---|---|
2021 | 92.35% |
2020 | 108.07% |
2019 | 94.26% |
2018 | 94.39% |
Angola alone accounts for about a third of Chinese lending to Africa between 2000 and 2019; these loans are repaid with oil shipments. A little less than half ($19 billion) was in 2016 alone granted to Sonangol, the Angolan state-owned oil company.
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Maldives are among the biggest debtors of China. Pakistan owes $77.3 billion of external debt to China, according to Forbes.
Of these countries, China's government financing is the principal creditor of only three countries: Congo-Brazzaville, Djibouti, and Zambia.
Currently, Nigeria is Africa's biggest importer from China while South Africa is the biggest exporter. Other major exporters include Angola and the DRC. All three are big producers of metals or oil.
The fruitful results of China-Africa cooperation can be seen across the continent. It has improved the conditions for economic and social development in Africa and brought tangible benefits to people in both China and Africa.
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The 20 countries with the lowest national debt in 2021 in relation to gross domestic product (GDP)
The authors' research, based on a comprehensive new data set, reveals that between 1949 and 2017, the state and its subsidiaries lent about $1.5 trillion to more than 150 countries across the globe — much of which has been hidden from public view.
Japan, with its population of 127,185,332, has the highest national debt in the world at 234.18% of its GDP, followed by Greece at 181.78%. Japan's national debt currently sits at ¥1,028 trillion ($9.087 trillion USD).
How much China owe Kenya?
Kenya spent a total of Ksh 117.7 billion ($ 972.7 million) on Chinese debt in the period, of which about Ksh24. 7 billion (USD 204.1 million) is in interest payments and almost $ 93 billion ($ 768.5 million) in redemptions.
Ncube revealed that, in total, the Zimbabwean government owes China about US$2,6 billion. The Chinese loans were mainly for the mining, manufacturing, infrastructure, agriculture, and health sectors.
owes China N$2.1 billion, shy of 2% of total debt portfolio.
China is Africa's biggest trading partner, with over $170 billion annually in trade volume, surpassing the United States and Europe. Nigeria is one of China's largest trading partners in Africa.
U.S. debt to China comes in the form of U.S. Treasuries, largely due to their safety and stability. Although there are worries about China selling off U.S. debt, which would hamper economic growth, doing so in large amounts poses risks for China as well, making it unlikely to happen.