China to honour pledges and cancel Iraqi debt (26/09/05)

China's Foreign Minister Jin Renging has reiterated that China will honour its commitment to providing $25 million in reconstruction aid to Iraq, as well as cancelling part of the debt owed to it by the country.

Jin Renging is committed to helping Iraq

Attending this year's meeting of the IMF and World Bank Group, Renging later met with his Iraqi counterparts to discuss China's financial aid to Iraq, as well as the request for China to forgive some of the debt owed to it by Iraq.

The minister said that he was happy to see the progress being made towards Iraq's reconstruction:

"China and Iraq have a very friendly relationship ...developments in terms of providing aid to Iraq are going in the direction that all of us would like to see."

Renging also stressed that market forces should be taken into account when providing aid to Iraq. Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi expressed his appreciation of China's support in its post-war reconstruction.

Source: CRI Online