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China opposes actions, statements smearing Belt and Road Initiative — Foreign Ministry

Earlier, the White House said that the G7 intends to allocate $600 billion for development of global infrastructure

BEIJING, June 27. /TASS/. China opposes actions and statements that smear the Belt and Road initiative under pretext of building global infrastructure, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Monday.

Earlier, the White House said that the G7 intends to allocate $600 billion for development of global infrastructure. According to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, the project should become an alternative to China’s Belt and Road initiative.

"As for the initiative you mentioned, proposed by the G7, China welcomes all initiatives that help building global infrastructure," he said, adding that China does not see a problem of one initiative replacing another.

"However, we oppose statements and actions that promote geopolitical calculations and smear the Belt and Road initiative under pretext of building infrastructure," the diplomat said.

According to the document, published by the White House Wednesday, the US and its partners launch a new partnership, aimed at development of global infrastructure, with Washington planning to mobilize up to $200 billion within the next five years, contributing to the total $600 billion, provided by the G7. The document notes that the partnership aims to develop "high-quality sustainable infrastructure," which will make it possible to "reinforce and diversify supply chains," among other things. The separate US President’s memorandum states that the plan aims to provide a "comprehensive, transparent, values-based option to fund infrastructure development to countries with low and medium income."

The Belt and Road initiative, proposed by Chinese Leader Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to intensify international trade and investment projects with involvement of a large number of states and capital of interested states. Over 150 countries and international organizations have already joined the initiative.

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