G7 commits to action against China’s ‘unfair’ trade practices

Group of Seven leaders pledged Friday to combat what they called China’s unfair trade practices that harm their workers and industries, according to a draft declaration released on the final day of their annual summit .

The G7 also warned of measures against Chinese financial institutions that helped Russia obtain weapons for its war against Ukraine.

Leaders of Italy, the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Japan on Friday discussed concerns about China’s excess industrial capacity, which Western governments say is distorting local markets.

Pope Francis was then due to make a historic appearance at the southern Italian summit to discuss artificial intelligence.

The draft declaration, seen by Reuters, stresses that the G7 was not trying to harm China or thwart its economic development, but would “continue to take measures to protect our businesses from unfair practices, to standardize the rules of the game and remedying persistent damage.

The United States this week imposed new sanctions on China-based companies that supply semiconductors to Russia, amid concerns about Beijing’s increasingly aggressive stance on Taiwan and conflicts with the Philippines over rival maritime claims.

“China is not providing weapons (to Russia), but the capacity to produce these weapons and the technology available to do so, so it is actually helping Russia,” US President Joe Biden told reporters on Thursday. of the summit after signing a bilateral security agreement. pact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

During the first day of their meeting in southern Italy, G7 countries agreed to a deal to provide Ukraine with $50 billion in loans secured by interest from frozen Russian assets – hailing the agreement as a powerful signal of Western determination.

In the draft, G7 leaders also promised sanctions against entities that allegedly helped Russia circumvent sanctions on its oil by fraudulently transporting it.