China called for coordinated legal and technical measures to limit bondholder litigation and for strict enforcement of comparability of treatment under the G20 Common Framework, according to reporting linked to Paris Club discussions and the club’s annual report.
China, identified in the reporting as Ethiopia’s largest bilateral lender, said the framework’s credibility depends on official and private creditors delivering terms that are at least comparable. The issue has been highlighted by Ethiopia’s restructuring, where official creditors including China and France rejected an initial agreement with bondholders on the grounds that it did not meet comparability requirements.
Investor representatives said Ethiopia’s improved outlook did not justify the scale of losses sought and stated they were prepared to pursue legal action. Ethiopia defaulted on its $1 billion bond in December 2023, received official creditor financing assurances that supported IMF program approval in July 2024, and the official creditor committee said agreement on main restructuring parameters was reached in March 2025.
In May 2026, Ethiopia said it would remain in arrears to external creditors covered by the debt treatment until any restructuring terms were judged by the official creditor committee to be at least as favorable as those in the official deal. The Paris Club report also highlighted unresolved issues including the sequencing of talks with private creditors and the lack of clear rules on preferred creditor status for some development institutions.