China and the World Bank
China and the World Bank have a checkered history. Until 1980, China was not involved in the fortunes of the World Bank group . However, since joining, the country has made significant contributions to the World Bank and at the same time has taken out loans from the bank for various projects on its own territory. Despite its status as a rising world power, it was difficult for China to obtain adequate voting rights. That is why it founded its own development bank , the New Development Bank, together with other BRIC countries (acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China) in 2014 .
history
China joins the World Bank
Before the People's Republic of China joined the IMF and the World Bank in April 1980, China was represented by the Republic of China in both institutions. First, the Republic of China joined the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development on December 27, 1945. In 1980, the People's Republic of China took over from the Republic of China. Shortly after joining, the People's Republic of China received approval for its first loan application for a project. In response to China's violent crackdown on students protesting in Tian'anmen Square in 1989 ( Tian'anmen Massacre ), the World Bank frozen its loans to the country for a year.
In addition to its importance as a donor of project-related loans, the World Bank played another crucial role for China, namely as a guiding institution for China's reform policy, which was set in motion in the 1980s. As a result of steady growth, China was able to expand its voting rights further and further in 2010, when some developed countries gave up their responsibilities to emerging countries .
Projects in China
By June 2017, there were a total of 101 projects still to be implemented in China, which were supported by loans from the World Bank. These projects were primarily the financing of technical aids such as pension reform, urban development, reform of the energy sector, environmental protection, development of the labor market and the social safety net, interest rate liberalization and the liberalization of foreign trade. After being classified as a middle-income country, China was granted access to loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. From this, China borrowed nearly $ 40 billion in the period from 1999 to 2011. Also by 2011, the country received more than $ 5 billion in funding for 220 projects in the private sector from the International Finance Corporation
Controversial World Bank projects
A highly controversial World Bank project was that to reduce poverty in Gansu and Inner Mongolia in 1999. It included the construction of a 40-meter-long dam for which approximately 60,000 residents of Qinghai Province were to be relocated. This led to the decision of the World Bank to withdraw from this part of the project in order to end the dispute. Another project to reduce poverty in western China was also stopped by the World Bank in 2000 because it originally intended to relocate 58,000 Chinese farmers to Tibet . Following the publication of reports by a control body, the project had to be terminated as reports suggested that the World Bank had violated social and environmental guidelines.
Individual evidence
- ^ History - New Development Bank . In: New Development Bank . ( ndb.int [accessed May 26, 2018]).
- ↑ a b c d China and the World Bank - Bretton Woods Project . In: Bretton Woods Project . September 14, 2011 ( brettonwoodsproject.org [accessed May 26, 2018]).
- ↑ Member Countries . In: World Bank . ( worldbank.org [accessed May 26, 2018]).
- ^ A b Elizabeth Economy: China Joins the World: Progress and Prospects . Ed .: Council on Foreign Relations. S. 208-210 .
- ↑ Global Reach Map. Retrieved May 26, 2018 (English).
- ↑ http://www.ciel.org/news/victory-world-bank-effort-to-support-chinas-population-transfer-into-tibet-is-defeated/. Retrieved May 26, 2018 .