Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang met with Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo during his visit in Brussels, Belgium, on May 2, 2012. (Photo : www.english.cntv.cn)
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has arrived in Brussels, Belgium, on June 28, Sunday, to look for ways to connect China’s Belt and Road Initiative with Europe’s need for liquidity and infrastructure upgrading, the China Daily reported.
Li's visit came in time for the signing of the final articles for the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank on June 29, Monday, where 14 European countries, among the 57 prospective nations, are expected to sign.
Experts said that more synergies between the economies of Europe and Asia are expected to be created if both plans will proceed as planned.
More capital is also seen to flow into Europe's 315 billion euro ($350 billion) Investment Plan, which European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had unveiled in November.
Zhao Junjie, a researcher on European international relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that both events will help lift China's slow exports and promote domestic demand in Asia and Europe.
Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Center for International Political Economy, a think tank in Brussels, noted that Europe's role in the Belt and Road Initiative may depend on many things, including capital.
"The simple fact is that European countries think very differently about the initiative, and not all have the money to spend," Erixon remarked.
Li is also expected to address a China-EU Business Summit to present new economic opportunities for more than 400 businesspeople, and later attend the 17th China-EU leaders' meeting, the first since the change of EU leadership. He is also scheduled to meet with Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament.
Cui Hongjian, a researcher of European studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said that during Li's first meeting with EU leaders, the premier will look for new ways to expand China-EU cooperation and include international and regional issues on the agenda of the leaders' meeting.
"There are increasing cooperation opportunities for China and the EU, such as connecting each other's development strategies. Both China's Belt and Road Initiative and the Investment Plan for Europe are related to infrastructure construction and intercommunication," Cui said.
