China to contribute to European Fund for Strategic Investment
(18 June 2015 – China) China is expected to pledge a multi-billion dollar investment in Europe’s new infrastructure fund at a summit on 29 June in Brussels, according to Reuters.
In the draft communiqué seen by Reuters, an exact amount was yet to be decided, but the pledge by China follows major European Union governments’ decisions to join the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
EU and Chinese officials have told Reuters that Chinese banks are looking mainly at telecoms and technology projects.
The deal is expected to initiate return investment in the “One Belt, One Road” initiative - constructing major energy and communications links across Central, West and South Asia to as far as Greece.
An EU diplomat told Reuters the Chinese contribution was likely to be "in the billions".
The European Commission said that China had contacted the EU executive about the fund but declined to give more details at a regular news briefing in Brussels.
So far the proposed European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, has only been provided with contributions of €8 billion (A$11.6 billion) each by Franch, Germany, Italy and Poland, while Spain and Luxembourg have pledged smaller amounts.
The bloc is relying mainly on private investors and development banks to fund projects selected from an initial list of almost 2000 submitted by the 28 member states, from airports to flood defences, that are together worth €1.3 trillion.
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