China, Europe 'need each other'

LUXEMBOURG - Hailing China's "win-win" Belt and Road Initiative, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has voiced his country's support for the mega project.

"Transport goes in both directions. It's initiatives like these that make win-win situations possible," Bettel told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

Bettel made an official visit to China in June this year, one he said was fruitful.

"Four agreements were signed during the visit. The visit also allowed me to discover China. And it was also a visit that allowed me to see (the country) in the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Luxembourg and China, a relationship of trust that continues," he said.

"What impressed me, for example, is China's leadership role, also in respect of COP21. When I was in China, it was just some time after (US) President (Donald) Trump said he did not want to follow (the Paris Climate Accord)," Bettel said.

"We could have had a domino effect. And I met strong Chinese leaders, who want to defend the COP21, who want to continue to have a political responsibility that is not always 'popular' but necessary to preserve for future generations."

Amid a rising protectionist tendency against Chinese investment in Europe, Bettel told Xinhua that the two sides "have to agree to do something that will satisfy both parties, something that will benefit the one and the other, without it being at the cost of the other."

"I think that the Sino-European cooperation must be a cooperation that works. We tend to stigmatize what is wrong and yet there are so many things that work. When you see the partnership between Europe and China, whether it's Luxembourg and China, or Europe and China, we need each other," Bettel said.

"We need international trade and exchange, and I think that it is through understanding and respect for one and the other that we can move forward," he said.

Xinhua