China in sight: G7 want to compete with Beijing's "New Silk Road" with a project worth billions

Created: 06/28/2022, 14:17

By: Sven Hauberg

A Chinese freight train is on its way from Guiyang to Moscow: the rail connection is part of the "New Silk Road".

© Yang Wenbin/Xinhua/Imago

As part of its "New Silk Road", China is investing billions worldwide.

Now the West is following suit with its own initiative – once again.

Munich/Elmau – Parts of China's “New Silk Road” are now a dead end.

The gigantic infrastructure project, also known as the "Belt and Road Initiative" (BRI), is actually intended to connect China more closely with the rest of the world.

But the corona lockdowns in many of the country's cities with a population of over a million are currently bringing the global supply chains to a standstill, and containers are piling up in the ports.

Goods are still transported by rail, but that too could soon come to an end.

Because the central railway line of the "New Silk Road" runs through Russia and thus right through the country that has made itself a pariah in the west by attacking Ukraine.

Alternative routes, such as through Central Asia, are less efficient.

However, three quarters of all countries worldwide are somehow connected to the project, which was launched in 2013 by China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping.

The government in Beijing is still investing billions, building bridges in South America or rail connections in Africa.

And there is no end in sight.

Especially since, as some experts suspect, China is about more than just beautiful new roads in previously underdeveloped regions of the world: Beijing, it is assumed, also wants to secure geopolitical advantages with the "New Silk Road".

G7 summit 2022 in Elmau: Pictures of the most powerful politicians in the world in front of a spectacular mountain backdrop

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Biden's "Partnership for Global Infrastructure" is intended to stand up to China's "Silk Road".

At their meeting in Elmau, Upper Bavaria, the heads of state of the G7 countries have now launched their own initiative intended to compete with China.

This "Partnership for Global Infrastructure" was announced by US President Joe Biden last year.

"Together, we want to mobilize nearly $600 billion through the G7 by 2027," Biden said on Sunday.

"And I'm proud to announce that the United States will mobilize $200 billion in public and private capital for this partnership over the next five years."

Biden added that this is not charity.

"It's an investment that will pay off for everyone, including the American people and the people of all our countries, and will boost all of our economies."

It is an opportunity for us to share our positive vision for the future.” Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz saw the initiative as another example of the unity of the G7.

A US official said Sunday the initiative would target low- and middle-income countries.

The aim is infrastructure investments "that the countries need without being dictated from outside".

The projects would be bound to high standards "to ensure that these investments are economically and commercially driven and do not result in debt traps".

Countries with funds from the Chinese project found that their debts were mounting and that the "so-called investments" were not reaching the people.

White House communications director for the National Security Council, John Kirby, said on Saturday that China will be "an important focus" at the G7 summit in Elmau.

China and the West: Struggle for Dominance in the Pacific Region

Under Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, the United States had increasingly withdrawn from Asia.

The Biden government is now trying to reverse this with several projects to push back China's global influence.

Biden recently launched several initiatives to regain a stronger presence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Among other things, Washington had been shaken up by a security agreement that Beijing had concluded with the island state of the Solomon Islands.

Just a few days ago, the US government also announced an informal forum called "Partners in the Blue Pacific", to which Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Great Britain belong alongside the USA.

Together they want to "work with Pacific partners" to strengthen the region, according to the White House.

Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of China's state-owned

, sarcastically commented on the recent US and allies' push: "China built the BRI, and the US and its allies pledged $600 billion to developing countries.

China has developed ties with the South Pacific island nations, and the US has responded by establishing 'Partners in the Blue Pacific'.

China has mobilized and guided the West in a special way," Hu tweeted.

In order to counter China's "New Silk Road", the EU launched the "Global Gateway" initiative last year.

By 2027, 300 billion US dollars are to be invested in partner countries of the EU, including in the areas of digital, climate and energy as well as transport.

"The Global Gateway Strategy shows how Europe can network with the world in a more crisis-proof manner," said EU Commission President von der Leyen at the presentation of the project.