Ursula von der Leyen says G7 global strategy has ‘no strings attached’ unlike China

  • Date: 13-Jun-2021
  • Source: Saudi Gazette
  • Sector:Economy
  • Country:Middle East
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Ursula von der Leyen says G7 global strategy has ‘no strings attached’ unlike China

LONDON “” The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has told Euronews that plans discussed by G7 leaders to help the world's developing countries come "without strings attached", in comparison to China. In an exclusive interview from the G7 summit in southwest England, she said the Group of Seven nations and China were "strong competitors" in the economic field and "systemic rivals" when it came to human rights and democracy. On Saturday G7 leaders backed a vast global infrastructure plan for developing and emerging countries to rival the Chinese "Belt and Road" project. The "Build Back Better World" initiative had been announced earlier by US President Joe Biden. The Commission president referred to the EU's own "Connecting Europe and Asia" strategy, launched in 2019 and aimed at boosting mutual prosperity for the people of both continents. "(Where) the connectivity initiative is concerned, we discussed intensively (at the G7) that it is important to bring forward this connectivity initiative and make sure we have the better and the more convincing model," von der Leyen told Euronews' Jack Parrock. Citing the power of the G7, she added that "it is first important to convince our partners with us, the investment comes