Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is knocking on Europe’s door with a seductive message and a bold sales pitch. The message is one of economic cooperation, and coming in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial visit to Europe, his participation in the EU-China summit on June 1-2 in Brussels could not be better timed.
Quotes and Quotas is a weekly digest of phrases and facts that help explain Asia’s infrastructure push.
Quotes and Quotas is a weekly digest of phrases and facts that help explain Asia’s infrastructure push.
Asia’s fast growth rates could falter without massive investment in infrastructure, while China — which looks set to benefit from the U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact — is readying more lending firepower, the Financial Times reports in a special series on Asian infrastructure and trade. As part of the series, FT emerging markets editor James Kynge explains how infrastructure finance could create new alliances across the region and draws upon Reconnecting Asia’s maps. Read his piece here, and explore the infrastructure ambitions of regional powers through Reconnecting Asia’s “Competing Visions” map series here.
On May 14, President Xi Jinping of China will welcome 28 world leaders to Beijing to discuss the most ambitious and least understood initiative in global affairs: the Belt and Road. The effort is bold and has been compared to a traditional Chinese painting made with broad brush strokes. Through new overland and maritime connections, it aims to put China squarely at the center of global economic affairs. Like a painting of the same style, it also begins to lose focus when viewed up close, raising questions about its drivers and ultimate implications.