The world's biggest investor in developing countries is no longer the World Bank. It's China.
This story was originally covered by PRI's The Takeaway. For more, listen to the audio above.
Over the past two years, China's banks have loaned at least $110 billion to governments and companies in other developing nations. That's more money than the World Bank, making China the world's number one investor in emerging economies.
The total amount of money isn't fully known. The Financial Times collected the latest statistics by examining public announcements by the banks, the borrowers or the Chinese government. The real numbers could be higher.
"The World Bank has been trying to find ways to co-operate with Beijing to avoid escalating competition over loan deals," The Financial Times reports. It added that "China itself has been one of the biggest recipients of World Bank loans in the past."
"China has a lot of cash available to try to win friends and influence," BBC Correspondent, Chris Hogg, told PRI's The Takeaway. The government is funneling money through two state-owned banks to further its national interests. Hogg says, "it helps them to secure energy supplies, it helps them to secure influence, to win friends at organizations like the United Nations."
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