Former World Bank Chief Urges China to Release Food and Fertiliser Stockpiles

BBC Business reported Tuesday that former World Bank President David Malpass is calling on Beijing to release its vast China food stockpiles to ease a supply crisis worsened by the Iran conflict.

Malpass, speaking to the BBC’s World Business Report ahead of this week’s Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, said China holds the largest reserves of both food and fertiliser of any nation. He argued Beijing should halt any further accumulation. The appeal comes as countries worldwide race to secure fertiliser supplies before spring planting seasons. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has severely disrupted shipment routes.

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China suspended fertiliser exports in March, saying the ban was necessary to protect its own agricultural needs. Malpass pushed back on that justification. He said a nation with China’s economic scale has no legitimate basis for restricting global supply at such a critical moment.

The Chinese embassy in Washington responded through spokesperson Liu Pengyu, who said Beijing remained committed to global food and fertiliser market stability. Liu argued the underlying causes of the current disruption were obvious, and responsibility could not be attributed to China.

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A Long-Running Dispute Over China’s Status

Malpass also revived a broader argument about how China classifies itself in international institutions. He said Beijing’s self-designation as a developing nation has become implausible. China is the world’s second-largest economy, he noted, yet it still claims developing-country protections at the WTO and within World Bank frameworks.

Liu disputed this directly, calling China’s developing-country status a legitimate and well-documented designation. He said China had every right to maintain that classification.

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Hormuz Deadlock and the US Inflation Outlook

On the Iran ceasefire, which President Donald Trump described Monday as being on life support, Malpass said the international community should back Washington in demanding a resolution. He described Iran’s effective control of the strait as unacceptable. He also argued that China has its own strong incentive to push for open waterways. Beijing operates major shipping lines, controls significant container capacity, and depends heavily on unobstructed global trade routes.

Looking ahead to Tuesday’s US inflation data, Malpass said he expects prices to move higher on a range of goods. He added, however, that recent jobs figures showed underlying US economic resilience.

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