China forgives $50 million in Sudan debt as Khartoum seeks support
Sudan says Beijing canceled four interest-free loans, a small but timely gesture as war leaves Khartoum with few outside backers.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
China has canceled $50 million in loans to Sudan, giving Khartoum limited financial relief during a war that has battered the economy and cut off many foreign funding channels. Sudan’s state news agency, SUNA, said the agreement took immediate effect after officials signed it in Port Sudan.
The deal covers four interest-free loans worth 344 million yuan, or about $50 million, according to SUNA. Sudan and China announced the waiver over the weekend, three years into the conflict between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces.
The United Nations says Sudan’s economy has contracted by about 40 percent during the war. Before the fighting, Sudan owed more than $56 billion to foreign governments and institutions, according to figures cited by Sudan analysts and international lenders.
A small waiver at a hard moment
The debt cancellation is tiny compared with Sudan’s overall obligations, amounting to less than 1 percent of its external debt before the war. Sudan had been in line for much larger relief in 2021 under the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative, which could have cleared more than $50 billion within three years.
That process stalled after Sudan’s October 2021 military coup and was formally suspended the following year, according to the IMF and World Bank process described by officials at the time. Since then, the war has deepened Sudan’s isolation and weakened its ability to borrow.
Sudanese Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim welcomed China’s decision, SUNA reported. He said China had continued investing in Sudan during the war while Western governments, including the United States and European Union members, had largely held back.
The United States Treasury added Gibril to its sanctions list in September 2025, accusing him of involvement in Sudan’s civil war and links to Iran. China’s charge d’affaires in Sudan, Xu Jian, said at the signing ceremony that Beijing was ready to help rebuild war-damaged areas, according to SUNA.
War has shattered public services
The humanitarian and economic toll in Sudan remains severe. The United Nations says more than 1.5 million people have been killed, while about 14 million people have been displaced, roughly a quarter of Sudan’s population.
The World Health Organization says fewer than 14 percent of health facilities in Sudan are still operating. The Sudanese pound has also plunged from about 600 to the dollar before the war to more than 5,000 to the dollar by June 2026.
Beijing protects an old relationship
China’s move fits a pattern in its Africa policy. The Johns Hopkins China Africa Research Initiative found that Beijing forgave at least $3.4 billion in interest-free loans across Africa between 2000 and 2019.
Those waivers usually involve smaller government loans. Larger Chinese loans are often issued through state banks on commercial terms, making them harder to cancel.
China’s ties with Sudan go back decades and were built largely around oil and infrastructure. From the mid-1990s, China National Petroleum Corporation invested billions of dollars in Sudanese oil fields and pipelines to Port Sudan, at a time when Western companies were pushed out by sanctions.
The relationship changed after South Sudan became independent in 2011 and took most of the former unified country’s oil fields. Chinese investment later slowed, but Sudan still owes China more than $5 billion, and CNPC requested a formal exit from Sudan in December 2025.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.