The China-Africa Research Initiative published in April 2023 a study titled "Integrating China into Multilateral Debt Relief: Progress and Problems in the G20 DSSI" by Deborah Brautigam and Yufan Huang.
The study evaluates China's participation in a major multilateral experiment in sovereign debt management: the G-20s COVID-19 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). The authors argue, with some caveats, that the DSSI was a success.
First, it succeeded in providing a pathway for China, the world's largest bilateral creditor, to negotiate debt treatments together with the Paris Club in the Common Framework. Second, China fulfilled its role fairly well as a responsible G-20 stakeholder. Finally, the DSSI pushed the Chinese government to align interests among fragmented banks and bureaucracies with conflicting goals.
