EU leaders hold out olive branch to Chinese ‘rival’ by saying they want active role in ‘Belt and Road Initiative’
- Angela Merkel says Europe is still keen to participate in infrastructure scheme that US dubbed a ‘vanity project’
- EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker seeks to reassure Chinese leader Xi Jinping that view of China as ‘strategic rival’ is a compliment
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.