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G-7 Leaders Launch $600 Billion Infrastructure Push To Rival Chinese Influence

Topline

The leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations have vowed to raise $600 billion within the next five years to fund infrastructure projects in developing countries, an effort designed to compete for influence in the developing world with the similar Belt and Road program launched by China in 2013.

Key Facts

The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment will help create “quality, sustainable infrastructure” that will strengthen the world’s supply chains, result in economic opportunities for American workers and advance U.S. national security interests, according to the Biden administration.

The U.S. alone will contribute $200 billion to the effort through grants, federal financing, and leveraging private sector investments, the White House said.

Officials said the program will focus on four priorities: creating sustainable infrastructure that is resilient to climate change; expanding access to information and communications technology, such as 5G and 6G cellular service; advancing gender equity; and upgrading international health systems.

The initiative builds on a similar undertaking announced at last year’s G-7 summit in the United Kingdom that was called Build Back Better World, after Biden’s now largely thwarted domestic infrastructure push.

Example projects that have already been launched include a $2 billion solar project in Angola as part of a partnership between U.S. governmental entities and private American companies that will help the central African country meet its goal of generating 70% carbon-free power within the next three years.

Crucial Quote

"This isn't aid or charity. It's an investment that will deliver returns for everyone," Biden said Sunday from Germany, where the G-7 summit is being held.

Key Background

Since 2013, China has heavily invested in more than 100 foreign nations–largely developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America–through its Belt and Road Initiative, meant to be a modern reimagining of the ancient Silk Road trade route. The projects have been slammed by some critics and accused of trapping poor countries into debt and creating a financial dependence that has expanded China’s global influence. Biden has previously vowed to counter Chinese influence. “When democracies demonstrate what we can do, all that we have to offer, I have no doubt that we’ll win the competition every time,” Biden said Sunday.

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