WASHINGTON, March 2 (Xinhua) -- As the COVID-19 pandemic is worsening the debt crisis in many African countries, China is offering African borrowers debt restructuring to help them survive the crisis, scholars from U.S. universities have said.

"Chinese banks offered African countries significant debt restructuring before the pandemic and have continued to do so," Kevin Acker and Deborah Brautigam from Johns Hopkins University and Yufan Huang from Cornell University said in an analysis report published on The Washington Post on Friday.

The scholars noted their research indicates that China has played a significant role in helping African countries manage their debt.