China cancels 80% of Iraq debt

AFP
February 4, 2010

BAGHDAD — China has agreed to cancel 80 percent of the 8.5-billion-dollar debt it is owed by Iraq, the finance ministry in Baghdad said in an official statement on Tuesday.

[efoods]It said a bilateral agreement was signed in Beijing, without specifying the date, and that China’s ambassador to Iraq had met officials in Baghdad to confirm the agreement.

The statement added that the two countries entered into trade deals valued at 3.8 billion dollars in 2009.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told AFP “China and Iraq have reached an agreement not long ago… to substantially cancel the debts Iraq owes to Chinese companies.”

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