Why Jamaica wants to call time on Chinese borrowing
- While the Caribbean nation is trying to cut down its high levels of debt, it may also want to address US concerns about growing Chinese influence
- China’s growing economic footprint has also prompted a domestic backlash amid complaints local workers are losing out
Jamaica has announced it will stop borrowing from China as it tries to balance its relationship with Washington and Beijing.
This April it signed up to the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing’s ambitious trade and infrastructure project, and China invested more than US$2 billion in Jamaica from 2005 to 2018, according to the China-Latin America Finance Database.
But following his visit to China early this month, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that while cooperation in infrastructure would continue “in keeping with its firm commitment to reduce debt rapidly, [the government] would not negotiate any new loan programmes with our Chinese partners”.
China has been steadily making headway in the Caribbean through investment and loans, prompting growing concern in Washington, the region’s hegemon since the 19th century.
But the impact of this investment in the island nation has also provoked a growing domestic backlash and the government’s decision to avoid further borrowing from Beijing – an unusual move for a belt and road signatory – may owe as much to domestic concerns as it does to the need to alleviate Washington’s disquiet.