China criticizes the G7 for spreading a “false narrative” about the ‘Silk Road’

“It is the United States that should be held responsible for creating the ‘debt trap,'” says foreign spokesman

June 27. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Chinese government has criticized the G7 for spreading “a false narrative” about the ‘silk road’, calling it a “debt trap”, after the group launched an initiative to boost investment in infrastructure with the objective of counteracting Chinese influence in middle-income countries.

Leaders of the G7 summit, held in southern Germany, stressed on Sunday that there are ways to respond to unfair and opaque loans granted by China as part of a G7 initiative that will allow investment in sustainable “values-based” projects. common”.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the seven countries should tackle the so-called “debt trap” caused by China’s massive lending, in which borrowers will struggle to repay and fail under Beijing’s influence.

“It is the United States that should be held responsible for creating the ‘debt trap.’ debt burden,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian.

In this sense, he said that, since its creation, the ‘silk road’ “has followed the principle of broad consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits and has provided tangible benefits to partner countries and their peoples”.

Lijian stressed that according to World Bank forecasts, if all transportation infrastructure projects are carried out by 2030, it will generate 1.3 percent in revenue of global GDP.

“(The ‘Silk Road’) could help lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million out of moderate poverty between 2015 and 2030,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said at a press conference. press.

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, presented this Sunday an initiative, within the framework of the summit, to promote investments in infrastructure with 200,000 million dollars (188,000 million euros) to counteract Chinese influence in low-income countries. stockings.

In addition to the 200,000 million there will be another 400,000 million (376 million euros) that the rest of the G7 members will contribute for investments in the next five years. This Global Infrastructure and Investment Partnership replaces the Rebuild a Better World plan announced at last year’s G7 summit.