Zambia has said it will resist pressure from Chinese creditors to make paying arrears a condition of pursuing debt relief talks, as the southern African nation battles to restructure $11bn of external debts.

Africa’s second-biggest copper producer has become a test case for the ability of poor and indebted nations to find debt relief as they grapple with the health and economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. Its negotiations illustrate the limitations of a G20 agreement to halt payments this year by these countries to official bilateral creditors.

Zambia has obtained relief from some of its bilateral creditors under the G20 debt service suspension initiative (DSSI), which includes up to four years to repay and the deferral of arrears.