Donald Trump Calls For World Bank To Stop Lending To China

On Friday, US President Donald Trump called for the World Bank to stop loaning money to China, a day after the global institution adopted a lending plan for Beijing despite Washington's objections.

On Thursday, the World Bank adopted a plan to aid China of $1 billion to $1.5 billion in low-interest loans annually through June 2025. The plan calls for lending to "gradually decline" from the previous five-year average of $1.8 billion.

Donald Trump took to his Twitter handle to say, "Why is the World Bank loaning money to China? Can this be possible? China has plenty of money, and if they don't, they create it. STOP!"

Why is the World Bank loaning money to China? Can this be possible? China has plenty of money, and if they don’t, they create it. STOP!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2019

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and several US lawmakers had expressed their objections to the five-year strategic lending plan and also said the World Bank to "graduate" China from its concessional loan programs for low- and middle-income countries.

In a response to Reuters' query, World Bank said its lending to China has fallen sharply and will continue to reduce as part of its agreement with its shareholders including the US.

In the fiscal year 2019 ended 30 June, the World Bank has loaned $1.3 billion to China, a decrease from around $2.4 billion in fiscal 2017.