By Lauren Egan - NBC News
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden and other world leaders meet Saturday on the second day of the Group of Seven (G-7) summit in the United Kingdom to counter China's growing global influence, according to senior White House officials.
The G-7 nations are expected to announce new global infrastructure initiatives for low- and middle-income countries that officials say will be grouped together under the "Build Back Better for the World" initiative.
Biden will also encourage G-7 partners to take a
clear stance on forced labor and human rights,
according to officials.
From left to right, the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi;
the American president, Joe Biden;
the President of France, Emmanuel Macron;
and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during the G7 Summit, in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, England, on Friday, June 11, 2021. Leon Neal via AP
In a call with reporters, Biden Administration officials stressed that Saturday's efforts will not be aimed solely at confronting China, but at "providing an affirmative and positive alternative vision for the world."
Biden has prioritized using his first overseas trip as president to showcase the
ability of democratic institutions to respond to global challenges
and has frequently warned of the global rise in authoritarianism.
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The G-7 infrastructure initiatives are likely to be seen as a direct counterpart to the China Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious plan created by President Xi Jinping to connect China and dozens of countries in Asia, Europe, the East. Middle and Africa through a series of ports, bridges, 5G networks and other infrastructures.
Experts say the program has functioned as a way for China to wield economic influence and power around the world.
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China has been accused of using tactics amounting to human trafficking and forced labor,
including confiscating passports and holding workers against their will, to build its BRI projects.
She has also been accused of keeping more than a million Uighurs and other minorities in her Xinjiang region in internment camps.
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"This is not about making countries choose between us and China," an administration official said on the call.
"It's about offering an affirmative and alternative vision and approach that they want to choose from. So what we are promoting is
a confident and positive agenda,
focused on bringing other countries that share our values together on the issues that matter most." .
The Group of Seven, an organization of the world's richest democracies - the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States - will conclude its three-day meeting in the United Kingdom on Sunday.
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Next, Biden will head to Brussels to attend the NATO summit on Monday, before meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva on Wednesday.