China urges World Bank to suspend debt payments for poor borrowers

China on Thursday urged the World Bank to allow its poorest borrowers to suspend debt payments to the lender while they deal with the coronavirus pandemic, saying the world's biggest multilateral development bank should "lead by example."

Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun said in a statement to the World Bank's Development committee that all parties should take part in joint actions to address debt vulnerabilities amid the pandemic, including commercial, multilateral and official bilateral creditors.