The Belt and Road Brand Expo opens in Shanghai in May, 2019. Photo: IC

Calls for debt relief have intensified in Africa as the novel coronavirus outbreak worsened the economies of the poorest developing countries, and China will respond to the best of its ability, experts say.

China, as the largest creditor to African countries, has been consistently reducing African countries' debts and will cooperate with them to find sustainable solutions, the experts added.

Their comments came after the IMF and the World Bank warned that sub-Saharan Africa stands on the verge of a debt crisis, which may pose problems for China.

A two-decade loaning spree has propelled China to the top of Africa's creditors list and any comprehensive debt deal, including write-offs, would require Beijing to take a leading role and swallow losses, Reuters reported on Monday.

Sang Baichuan, director of the Institute of International Business at the University of International Business and Economics and a trade advisor to the Chinese government, said that in the aftermath of the outbreak, Africa's economic vulnerability will intensify and African countries' debt risks will spike.

However, Sang said that the most feasible choice is to temporarily freeze debt payments by Africa, and to help African countries to be able to absorb the debt.

"Instead of talking about debt relief, it is better to think about the long term and how China can help to strengthen Africa's development," Sang said.

"By strengthening China-Africa cooperation in investment, trade, talent development and infrastructure development, we can leverage China's own development capacity built up over the past four decades to improve Africa's capacity to repay its debts and eventually eliminate them," Sang said.

At the 2018 Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the Chinese government offered $60 billion in support to Africa through government assistance, financial institutions, and investment and financing. 

At the same time, China pledged to cancel the outstanding debts of the least-developed African countries, heavily indebted countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states that have diplomatic relations with China. The pledge covered interest-free inter-governmental loans due by the end of 2018.

"Africa's debt is in the hundreds of billions of dollars, some of it hidden, some of it in collaborative projects, such as borrowing and financing for corporate investments," Sang said.

However, although China has been consistently helping Africa to reduce its debts, repeatedly offering debt relief may cause some countries to renege on their debts and create a bottomless pit, experts said.

"The fundamental solution is not a simple default, but improving the region's internal functioning. This effort could involve strengthening economic and trade cooperation, improving the investment liberalization and facilitation process, and creating an attractive investment climate," said Hong Tao, director of the Institute of Business Economics at Beijing Technology and Business University.