World Bank President David Malpass (Photo: Reuters)

Malpass told the Reuters NEXT conference in New York that two thirds of this debt burden is now owed to China and expressed his worries about a disorderly default process where there's not a system to properly address debts for poorer countries.

Malpass will join a meeting in China next week with heads of other international institutions and Chinese authorities to discuss China’s approach to debt relief for poorer countries, COVID-19 policies, property sector turmoil, and other economic issues.

Malpass said that the world is facing high inflation, slow growth, and many countries face the risk of recession.