Credit Agreements: How China Brings Poor Countries to Its Rule

By Frank Stocker

(Die Welt)

The period of unequal treaties is deeply rooted in the historical memory of the Chinese.

From the mid-19th century to World War I, European colonial powers forced the Emperor of Beijing to open the country to Western profiteers and even to cede territories such as Hong Kong, Macao or Qingdao.

All Chinese see this period as the era of humiliation - and the self-confident, even aggressive, behavior of today's Chinese leaders also has its origins.

But in the meantime, China has itself become a great power, active in the four corners of the world economically.

Today, therefore, it is his turn to impose on current developing countries contracts that can also be described as “

unfair

” - and this is still a cautious assessment.

Read also: The G20, including China, wants to reduce the burden of African debt

Recently, a research team led by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) studied for the first time in which

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