9/16/2021- 12:20 p.m.
Did China FORCE World Bank to cook the books??
A probe by law firm Wilmerhale alleged that high-ranking Chinese officials exerted pressure on World Bank leadership to boost its score in the influential Doing Business ranking in 2017, including pressing then-President Kim Yong Jim.
The report also found that the World Bank caved as then-CEO/current IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva pressured staff to cook the numbers to deliver a more favorable standing to China. Georgieva denies the claims.
The Bank then announced it will discontinue the Doing Business report altogether due to irregularities in the 2018 and 2020 reports.
The latter lavished praise on Beijing reforms that placed China in the top 10 countries for ease of doing business.
