China ‘Wants To Combine Its Know-How’ with Western Firms on the Belt and Road

March 16 (EIRNS)—Bloomberg reported March 14 that China’s National Development and Reform Commission is calling on American and European firms to cooperate with Chinese firms in development projects along the Silk Road around the world. “China wants to combine its manufacturing and construction know-how with the advanced technology of Western firms on the global trade and infrastructure program,” said Zhou Xiaofei, the Deputy Secretary General of the Commission. “Projects could also benefit from partnerships with U.S. and European enterprises on professional services, management, and financing,” Zhou said on March 14.

“The Belt and Road Initiative is not a private path of one party, but an avenue of sunshine for everyone to go forward hand in hand,” Zhou told a seminar in Zhengzhou, Henan. “China is not singing solo, but in a chorus of countries along the Belt and Road.”

The two-day event is taking on the attacks against the BRI which are now filling the Western press and government statements. The forum comes a month before the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, which is expected to have representatives from 100 countries. Countering charges that the BRI projects are all Chinese controlled, Zhu Lintao, a construction executive involved in the Yenbo fuel power station in Saudi Arabia, characterized the project as a “mini-United Nations involving a Chinese contractor, German consulting firm, Spanish design company, and General Electric Co. equipment.” GE has cooperated with Chinese partners on 37 GW of power generation projects since 2013, said Hu Jingmiao, commercial general manager of GE Powers China EPC Steam Power Systems. Hu said the company has provided equipment for projects in places such as Brazil, Kenya, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia.