New paths, closer links
A conference at the Foreign Office looked at possibilities for cooperation between the EU and China in the context of the New Silk Road Initiative.
The “New Silk Road” aims to overcome borders – in business and transportation, in IT, energy and finance. That is what also makes this project by the Chinese government interesting for Europe. The opportunities were discussed jointly at a conference in February 2016 at the Foreign Office. With 4.7 billion inhabitants, Eurasia is a “massive space” for cooperation, according to State Secretary Markus Ederer. Thanks to its EU neighbourhood policy, the Central Asia strategy and the EU-Russia strategy, the EU has already smoothed paths towards more “connectivity”. The Silk Roads Initiative has also to be seen in this context. Germany also wants to use its presidency of the OSCE to achieve even more connectivity: China will be a guest at the OSCE Economic Conference in Berlin in May.
