Former chief economist of the World Bank, Justin Yifu Lin, has called on international financial institutions and donor countries to reevaluate debt sustainability to help developing countries, especially in Africa.

In an opinion piece co-written with Yan Wang, a senior fellow at the Institute of New Structural Economics, Peking University, Lin calls for a review of the concept of debt sustainability as defined in a major framework used by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The pair also claim the way debt sustainability is often measured — that is, by judging loans in terms of GDP to debt ratio — is fundamentally flawed.

Additionally, they say the traditional model of more-developed countries in the so-called global north funneling aid to less-developed nations in the global south “is not nearly as effective as it could be and should be,” and that development cooperation between global-south states combining trade, aid, and public and private investment is “far more effective … at overcoming obstacles to industrialization.”

The article also dismisses arguments that China engages in “debt-trap diplomacy” by providing massive development loans to already-indebted countries, especially in Africa.

Read the full story later today on Caixin Global.

Related: Opinion: China Is Not Trying to Catch Africa in a Debt Trap