After signing a memorandum of understanding with Italy about Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative, the Chinese President made a state visit to France. Chinese and Russian analysts have discussed whether EU member states will follow Rome’s suit and jump on the New Silk Road bandwagon.
“Although some French leaders have previously said unflattering things about China, China’s huge market and the rise of its power are facts that cannot be ignored”, Zhou Rong, a senior researcher at the Chongyang Financial Research Institute of the Renmin University of China, told Sputnik China, commenting on President Xi Jinping’s meeting with the leaders of Germany, France and the EU in Paris.
Zhou noted that China and France have a lot of in common in terms of foreign policy.
Belyaev noted that one of the examples of that approach is Italy’s decision to join the China-led One Belt and One Road initiative. Although currently Italy is not the strongest European player, Rome’s decision is an indicator of Europe’s drift to the East, according to the analyst.”France and Germany understand that the Belt and Road is a trend that is very difficult to reverse, because it is a strategic project of China”, he stressed. “It is supported by both financial and political resources; this is a trend of world turning towards the East”.
Subsequently, China and Italy signed almost 50 cooperation agreements, while in France they concluded just 14 contracts in various fields, he noted.
“Unlike Italy, France and Germany are European leaders”, Belyaev said. “They understand that if they give up their positions under the pressure of momentary pragmatic economic interest, they will obviously lose in politics. And it would not be the loss of just political leverage, but completely obvious moral damage”.