WASHINGTON: Germany’s finance minister on Thursday welcomed a signal from China that it may drop a demand for multilateral banks to be involved in debt restructuring for poorer countries, which would remove a key roadblock to debt relief.

Speaking on a visit to Washington for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, Christian Lindner said that China appears to “finally accept its responsibility as the major creditor of low-income countries.”

China, which is attending the meetings in person for the first time in three years, has indicated it will drop its demand for multilateral development banks to share losses alongside other creditors in sovereign debt restructurings for poor nations, a source told Reuters.

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“The German government sees this as progress and we welcome it,” Lindner said.

“China is a difficult partner to talk to but we need China at the table for the solution of debt problems, because otherwise we won’t see any progress,” Lindner said.

China is by far the largest creditor for many highly indebted countries in Africa and Asia, and has been repeatedly pressed to make concessions on multilateral lenders to speed debt restructuring.