Continuing the carrot and stick approach to international trade, Premier Li Keqiang told poorer European nations that China would likely invest in their countries and import their products if they promised to buy Chinese products
Li said over the next five years, China is looking to invest more than $1 trillion overseas, and import more than $10 trillion in commodities, state-backed news site China Daily reported.
Speaking at the the fourth summit of China and central and eastern European countries in Suzhou on Tuesday, Li addressed the heads of 16 central and eastern European nations. He said China could help provide more flexible funding conditions to those countries to upgrade their infrastructure, as long as they use Chinese equipment and products, according to the state paper.
He also said China was exploring the possibility of establishing a multilateral financial institution with Central and Eastern European countries, as well as a joint fund that would be denominated in Chinese yuan.