G7: $ 600 billion as a counterweight to the Chinese One Belt One Road program

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) most industrialized nations today pledged $ 600 billion in private and public capital over five years to fund infrastructure needed by developing countries and to counter the multi-trillion-dollar program. of China under the name “One Belt One Road”.

US President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders unveiled the recently renamed Global Infrastructure and Investment Partnership at their annual meeting this year in Schloss Elmau, southern Germany.

Biden said the United States will provide $ 200 billion in grants, federal funds and private investment over five years to support programs in low- and middle-income countries that help address climate change, while also improving public infrastructure. health, gender equality and digital services.

“I want to be clear. This is neither aid nor charity. It is an investment that will pay off for everyone,” Biden said, adding that it would allow countries to “see the concrete benefits of partnering with democracies.”

Biden said an additional hundreds of billions of dollars could come from multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, state-owned investment funds and others.

Europe will mobilize € 300 billion ($ 317.28 billion) over the same period as part of an initiative to build a viable alternative to China’s One-Road Zone Initiative, introduced in 2013 by Chinese President Xi Jinping. said at the meeting the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

The leaders of Italy, Canada and Japan also spoke about their plans, some of which have already been announced separately. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson were not present, but their countries are also participating.

The Chinese investment scheme includes development projects in more than 100 countries with the aim of creating a modern version of the ancient Silk Road from Asia to Europe.

White House officials said that in many developing countries the plan has provided only a few tangible benefits.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian defended the Chinese initiative today, when asked to comment during a daily press briefing in Beijing.

“China continues to welcome all initiatives to promote global infrastructure development,” Zhao said, referring to the G7 $ 600 billion plan.

“We believe that there is no question that the various related initiatives should replace each other. We are opposed to promoting geopolitical calculations under the guise of building infrastructure or defaming the One Road One Zone Initiative,” he added.

Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ

Source: Capital

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