Why the World Bank is winding down loans to China amid a ‘natural’ shift

Beijing has downplayed reports that the World Bank will phase out lending to China by 2031, with the Ministry of Finance noting that the nation’s advancing economy and changing development needs were shifting cooperation away from financing and towards knowledge sharing. “This is the natural result of changing domestic needs and the transformation of bilateral cooperation,” the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, referring to the World Bank’s declining lending to China in recent...