Accountability for World Bank Loans to China Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5051 To increase transparency and accountability with respect to World Bank lending for China, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 12, 2019 Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To increase transparency and accountability with respect to World Bank lending for China, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accountability for 4 World Bank Loans to China Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds as follows: 7 (1) Possessing more than $3,000,000,000,000 8 in foreign exchange reserves, the People’s Republic 9 of China has devoted state resources to establish the 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Nov 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5051.IH H5051 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5051 IH Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the New De- 1 velopment Bank, and activities under the Belt and 2 Road Initiative, potentially creating rivals to the 3 multilateral development banks led by the United 4 States and its allies. 5 (2) The International Bank for Reconstruction 6 and Development (IBRD), the World Bank’s pri- 7 mary financing institution for middle-income coun- 8 tries, ceases to finance (‘‘graduates’’) countries that 9 are able to sustain long-term development without 10 recourse to Bank resources. 11 (3) The IBRD examines a country’s potential 12 graduation when the country reaches the Graduation 13 Discussion Income (GDI), which amounts to a Gross 14 National Income (GNI) per capita of $6,975. 15 (4) The World Bank calculates China’s GNI 16 per capita as equivalent to $9,470. 17 (5) According to the Center for Global Develop- 18 ment, China has received $7,800,000,000 in IBRD 19 commitments since crossing the GDI threshold in 20 2016. 21 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES SUPPORT FOR GRADUATION OF 22 CHINA FROM WORLD BANK ASSISTANCE. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The United States Governor of 24 the International Bank for Reconstruction and Develop- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Nov 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5051.IH H5051 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5051 IH ment (IBRD) shall instruct the United States Executive 1 Director at the IBRD that it is the policy of the United 2 States to pursue the expeditious graduation of the Peo- 3 ple’s Republic of China from assistance by the IBRD, con- 4 sistent with the lending eligibility criteria of the IBRD. 5 (b) SUNSET.—Subsection (a) shall have no force or 6 effect on or after the earlier of— 7 (1) the date that is 7 years after the date of the 8 enactment of this Act; or 9 (2) the date that the Secretary of the Treasury 10 reports to the Committee on Financial Services of 11 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 12 Foreign Relations of the Senate that termination of 13 subsection (a) is important to the national interest 14 of the United States, with a detailed explanation of 15 the reasons therefor. 16 SEC. 4. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR WORLD BANK LOANS TO THE 17 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Before contributing on behalf of 19 the United States to the nineteenth replenishment of the 20 resources of the International Development Association (in 21 this section referred to as the ‘‘Association’’), the United 22 States Governor of the Association, shall submit the report 23 described in subsection (b) to the Committee on Financial 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Nov 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5051.IH H5051 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5051 IH Services of the House of Representatives and the Com- 1 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate. 2 (b) REPORT DESCRIBED.—The report described in 3 this subsection shall include the following: 4 (1) A detailed description of the efforts of the 5 United States Governor of the Association and the 6 United States Governor of the International Bank 7 for Reconstruction and Development (in this section 8 referred to as the ‘‘IBRD’’) to enforce the timely 9 graduation of countries from the International De- 10 velopment Association and the IBRD, with a par- 11 ticular focus on the efforts with regard to the Peo- 12 ple’s Republic of China. 13 (2) If the People’s Republic of China is a mem- 14 ber country of the IBRD, an explanation of any eco- 15 nomic or political factors that have prevented the 16 graduation of the People’s Republic of China from 17 the IBRD. 18 (3) A discussion of any effects resulting from 19 fungibility and IBRD lending to China, including 20 the potential for IBRD lending to allow for funding 21 by the government of the People’s Republic of China 22 of activities that may be inconsistent with the na- 23 tional interest of the United States. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Nov 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5051.IH H5051 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5051 IH (4) An action plan to help ensure that the Peo- 1 ple’s Republic of China graduates from the IBRD 2 within 2 years after submission of the report, con- 3 sistent with the lending eligibility criteria of the 4 IBRD. 5 (c) WAIVER OF REQUIREMENT THAT REPORT IN- 6 CLUDE ACTION PLAN.—The Secretary of the Treasury 7 may waive the requirement of subsection (b)(4) on report- 8 ing to the Committee on Financial Services of the House 9 of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Rela- 10 tions of the Senate that the waiver is important to the 11 national interest of the United States, with a detailed ex- 12 planation of the reasons therefor. 13 SEC. 5. ENSURING DEBT TRANSPARENCY WITH RESPECT 14 TO THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE. 15 Within 180 days after the date of the enactment of 16 this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to 17 the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep- 18 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 19 the Senate a report that includes the following: 20 (1) An analysis of debt management assistance 21 provided by the World Bank, the International Mon- 22 etary Fund, and the Office of Technical Assistance 23 of the Department of the Treasury to borrowing 24 countries of the Belt and Road Initiative of the Peo- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Nov 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5051.IH H5051 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 5051 IH ple’s Republic of China (or any comparable initiative 1 or successor initiative of China). 2 (2) A discussion of United States efforts at the 3 World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and 4 any other international financial institution to pro- 5 mote debt transparency with respect to credit pro- 6 vided by China. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:25 Nov 21, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5051.IH H5051 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS