EU leaders hold out olive branch to Chinese ‘rival’ by saying they want active role in Belt and Road Initiative
European and Chinese leaders sought to reassure each other over economic cooperation on Tuesday despite the increasing US move towards protectionism, as leading EU figures said they were still open to joining China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who is hosting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the final leg of his European tour, invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to the meeting in Paris, where the four stressed their support for multilateralism and the pursuit of “mutual trust”.
Xi said China was determined to protect the world’s multilateral system, and was ready to continue with “opening up”.
He also invited European countries to join the belt and road scheme – which Washington has characterised as a Chinese “vanity project”.
The project has caused increased concern in the West about the extent to which it will help spread Chinese influence, especially since over the weekend Italy became the first G7 economy to join the project.
But Merkel stressed it was an important project that Europeans still wanted to participate in.
She continued: “We, as Europeans, want to play an active part and that must lead to a certain reciprocity, and we are still wrangling over that a bit.
“We are seeing the project as a good visualisation of interaction, interrelation and interdependence.”
The visit took place amid growing European scepticism about China’s influence and follows a decision by Brussels to brand China a “systemic rival” in a policy paper earlier this month.
“We understand that China does not like the expression ‘rivals’, but it is a compliment describing our shared ambitions,” Juncker told a press conference.
The EU and China also share concerns about the growing US trend towards protectionism – as manifested in the ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing.
Xi also said China’s process of opening up its economy to the world had allowed the country to achieve in the space of 40 years what the Europeans had managed over the course of the Industrial Revolution.
“We will continue to open up,” he said, “and to make the world a better open economy.”
He also tried to reassure his European counterparts by saying: “In today’s China-EU relationship, cooperation is the defining feature even if there are differences or competition to some extent.”
“The Belt and Road Initiative has enriched the world’s multilateral system; we invite all countries, including France, to join,” Xi said.
more @https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3003378/eu-leaders-hold-out-olive-branch-chinese-rival-hint-they-are
European and Chinese leaders sought to reassure each other over economic cooperation on Tuesday despite the increasing US move towards protectionism, as leading EU figures said they were still open to joining China’s “Belt and Road Initiative”.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who is hosting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the final leg of his European tour, invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to the meeting in Paris, where the four stressed their support for multilateralism and the pursuit of “mutual trust”.
Xi said China was determined to protect the world’s multilateral system, and was ready to continue with “opening up”.
He also invited European countries to join the belt and road scheme – which Washington has characterised as a Chinese “vanity project”.
The project has caused increased concern in the West about the extent to which it will help spread Chinese influence, especially since over the weekend Italy became the first G7 economy to join the project.
But Merkel stressed it was an important project that Europeans still wanted to participate in.
She continued: “We, as Europeans, want to play an active part and that must lead to a certain reciprocity, and we are still wrangling over that a bit.
“We are seeing the project as a good visualisation of interaction, interrelation and interdependence.”
The visit took place amid growing European scepticism about China’s influence and follows a decision by Brussels to brand China a “systemic rival” in a policy paper earlier this month.
“We understand that China does not like the expression ‘rivals’, but it is a compliment describing our shared ambitions,” Juncker told a press conference.
The EU and China also share concerns about the growing US trend towards protectionism – as manifested in the ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing.
Xi also said China’s process of opening up its economy to the world had allowed the country to achieve in the space of 40 years what the Europeans had managed over the course of the Industrial Revolution.
“We will continue to open up,” he said, “and to make the world a better open economy.”
He also tried to reassure his European counterparts by saying: “In today’s China-EU relationship, cooperation is the defining feature even if there are differences or competition to some extent.”
“The Belt and Road Initiative has enriched the world’s multilateral system; we invite all countries, including France, to join,” Xi said.
more @https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3003378/eu-leaders-hold-out-olive-branch-chinese-rival-hint-they-are
