CHINA TOPIX

12/22/2024 06:19:39 pm

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China to Support Europe's Economic Recovery: Premier Li

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(Photo : Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images) Premier Li Keqiang speaks at a press conference in Beijing earlier in the year. During his recent trip to Brussels, Premier Li revealed that China is mulling the option of supporting Europe's economic recovery.

Premier Li Keqiang has revealed that China is planning to support Europe's economic recovery by creating an investment platform with the European Union (EU). He made this revelation while speaking at the EU-China business summit in Brussels on Monday.

Premier Li noted that China is prepared to support the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) in order to facilitate mutually beneficial exchanges between both sides, Xinhua reported.

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"The Chinese side is of the view that China-EU relations, particularly economic relations and trade, is not only about buying and selling. We should expand mutual investment and even joint investment," he explained. "The Chinese side is willing to positively participate in the EU's investment plan."

Many experts had predicted increased support from China for the European economy to reciprocate the support that many European countries showed for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Yang Yangi, China's ambassador to the EU, has revealed that the government is eager to create synergies between the Silk Road Economic Belt, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and the European investment fund, according to EU Observer.

Premier Li, who said that China would buy more bonds from the European Investment Bank (EIB), also called on European authorities to do more than develop monetary policies to combat the economic slowdown. He urged them to follow China's footsteps by instituting important reforms to enhance trade and investment, and also boost the continent's production power through collaboration.

China is one of the EU's largest trading partners. Chinese investors pumped in about $10 billion (62 billion yuan) into Europe in 2014. Also, the volume of trade between both sides last year reached up to $615 billion (3 trillion yuan). The represents an increase of nearly 10% from 2013.

According to Yangi, more than 70 percent of the plans in the EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation have been commissioned. Premier Li has expressed confidence that the volume of trade and investment between Europe and China would reach up to $1 trillion (6 trillion yuan) in 2020.

During his two-day visit to Brussels for the EU-China leader's summit, Premier Li met with the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, and the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. He also oversaw the signing of several deals between China and Belgium worth more than $20 billion (100 billion yuan).

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