Yesterday, the European Commission unveiled its plan to invest €300 billion euros ($340 billion) globally by 2027 in infrastructure, digital and climate projects as a better alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative. The scheme is called Global Gateway, is to strengthen Europe's supply chains, boost EU trade and help fight climate change. It will focus on digitalisation, health, climate and energy and transport sectors, as well as education and research.
In 2013, China launched its Belt and Road project. It was intended to boost trade links with the rest of the world and has been spending heavily on the development of infrastructure in dozens of countries around the world. But according to EU officials, financing offered by Beijing is often unfavorable, not transparent and it causes some poorer countries, especially in Africa, to be dependent on China through debt.
EU International Partnerships Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen told the news conference the amount of money the EU was spending on development aid was similar to China's. "If I look at the statistics, between 2013 and 2018 Europe has been the largest provider of development assistance in the world and our development assistance, which is purely grants, for 2013-2018, is very close to the reported Belt and Road initiative projects provided by China," she said.
"We are very much at the same level but our modalities have been different. We have been providing grants and China has been providing loans," she said.
Source: reuters.com
