歐盟公佈3,000億歐元去回應中國的“一帶一路”

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

EU unveils 300 billion euro answer to China's Belt and Road

Wed., December 1, 2021, 3:15 a.m.

By Jan Strupczewski

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission unveiled on Wednesday a plan to invest 300 billion euros ($340 billion) globally by 2027 in infrastructure, digital and climate projects as a better alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative.

The scheme, called Global Gateway, is to strengthen Europe's supply chains, boost EU trade and help fight climate change, focusing on digitalization, health, climate and energy and transport sectors, as well as education and research.

China launched its Belt and Road project in 2013 to boost trade links with the rest of the world and has been spending heavily on the development of infrastructure in dozens of countries around the world.

But EU officials say financing offered by Beijing is often unfavorable, not transparent, and makes some poorer countries, especially in Africa, dependent on China through debt.

Unlike China, the EU would ensure local communities benefited from the infrastructure projects under Global Gateway and would also bring with it the private sector, for which EU involvement meant the investment was less risky, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said.

"Indeed, countries ... need better and different offers (to China's initiative)," von der Leyen told a news conference, unveiling the EU scheme, which she called "a true alternative".

EU money, in the form of grants, loans and guarantees, will come from the bloc's institutions, governments, as well as EU financial institutions and national development banks. It would be offered "under fair and favorable terms" so as not to leave governments of third countries with a debt problem, the Commission said.

EU International Partnerships Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen told the news conference the amount of money the EU was spending on development aid was similar to China's.

"If I look at the statistics, between 2013 and 2018 Europe has been the largest provider of development assistance in the world and our development assistance, which is purely grants, for 2013-2018, is very close to the reported Belt and Road initiative projects provided by China," she said.

"We are very much at the same level but our modalities have been different. We have been providing grants and China has been providing loans," she said.

The EU plan will focus on physical infrastructure, like fibre optic cables, clean transport corridors and clean power transmission lines to strengthen digital, transport and energy networks, the Commission said.

It said that by helping other countries the EU would also promote its own interests and strengthen its supply chains, the vulnerability of which became apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic.

($1 = 0.8824 euros)

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by John Chalmers, William Maclean and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Translation

 布魯塞爾（路透社) - 歐盟委員會周三公佈了一項計劃，到 2027 年在全球投資 3000 億歐元（3,400 億美元）用於基礎設施, 數字和氣候項目, 作為替代中國“一帶一路”倡議的更好方案。

該計劃名為“全球通道” (Global Gateway)，旨在加強歐洲的供應鏈, 促進歐盟貿易, 並幫助應對氣候變化，重點地關注數字化、健康、氣候和能源及運輸領域, 以及教育和研究。

中國於 2013 年啟動了“一帶一路”項目，以促進與世界其他地區的貿易聯繫，並在全球數十個國家斥巨資發展基礎設施。

但歐盟官員表示，北京提供的融資往往不優惠且不透明，這使得一些較貧窮的國家，尤其是非洲國家，因爲債務而依賴中國。

歐盟委員會主席烏爾蘇拉·馮德萊恩 (Ursula von der Leyen) 表示，與中國不同的是，歐盟將確保當地社區從 Global Gateway 的基礎設施項目中受益，並將帶來民間經濟，歐盟的參與意味著投資風險是較低。

馮德萊恩在新聞發布會上說: “確實，各國……（對中國的倡議），需要更好和不同的提議”; 她揭開了歐盟的計劃，稱之為“真正的替代方案”。

歐盟的資金，是用贈款、貸款和擔保的形式，將來自歐盟的機構、政府以及歐盟金融機構和國家開發銀行。歐盟委員會表示，它將“以公平和優惠的條件”提供，以免給第三國政府帶來債務問題。

歐盟國際夥伴關係專員Jutta Urpilainen 在新聞發布會上表示，歐盟在援助發展上的開支與中國相似。

她說: “如果我查看統計數據，在 2013 年至 2018 年間，歐洲一直是世界上最大的發展援助提供者，而我們的發展援助都純粹是贈, 在 2013 年至 2018 年期間與被報導由中國提供的 ‘一帶一路’ 倡議項目非常接近”。

她說: “我們在很大程度上處於同一水平，但我們的方式有所不同。我們一直在提供贈款，而中國一直在提供貸款”。

歐盟委員會表示，歐盟計劃將側重於實質基礎設施，如光纖電纜、清潔運輸走廊和清潔電力傳輸線，以便加強數字、運輸和能源網絡。

委員會表示，通過幫助其他國家，歐盟也將促進自身利益並壮大其供應鏈。在 COVID-19 大流行期間，供應鏈的脆弱性變得明顯。

（1 美元 = 0.8824 歐元）

              So, looking at the statistics, between 2013 and 2018 Europe has been the largest provider of development assistance in the world and its development assistance, which is purely grants, and is very close to the reported Belt and Road initiative projects provided by China.