As soon as the news came out, Western media explicitly or covertly targeted China, saying that Biden's infrastructure plan was actually to compete with China for influence.
In fact, the Biden administration has been working in this direction since it came to power. When the G7 member states met last year, they also said that they would raise US$40 trillion in funds to support infrastructure in developing countries. Foreign media also called it It is the American version of the “One Belt, One Road” strategy.
However, the $40 trillion bragging was so big that no one believed that the United States could turn it into reality. Now one year later, Biden seems to have finally recognized the reality and started to take this job seriously. The so-called American version of the “One Belt, One Road” construction.
Judging from its announced financing channel , a large part of the US$600 billion will be driven by European and American private capital investment by the governments of G7 member countries.
Moreover, Biden also emphasized that this is an investment plan, not an aid. Its potential meaning is naturally to tell those European and American capitals who may respond to this plan that the U.S. government is not asking them to give money in vain. Using the state as a guarantee provides them with an investment channel.
Capital is profit-seeking. It would definitely be unrealistic to ask those Western capitalists to assist developing countries with US$600 billion for no reason. But if you tell them that they can make money in this way, then they may be able to raise funds.
Therefore, the core of Biden’s competition plan lies in whether the US government can ensure that it can make money by deceiving domestic capital to invest in infrastructure projects in developing countries. On the surface,
is of course possible, because China has already set an example before.
Over the past few decades, the reason why China has been able to continuously invest in infrastructure projects in developing countries is because China has properly handled the relationship between aid and making money, not only allowing those less developed countries to improve their infrastructure, but also It also allows the company to make money and achieve a win-win situation.
Since China can do it, can G7 member countries also make money by copying China's routines? But the question is, can European and American companies "copy China's work"?
In fact, British and Japanese companies had already tried it a few years ago. At that time, China was preparing to assist Tanzania in building a port. As a result, the British and Japanese companies felt that the port would be profitable after it was completed, so with the help of the government Next, they spread rumors to smear China, and offered benefits to Tanzania, and finally succeeded in stealing orders.
As a result, just a few years later, British and Japanese companies found that they could not learn the model of Chinese companies' aid in construction, because not only their construction costs were high, but their utilization rate of funds was also much higher than that of Chinese companies.
To put it simply, the Chinese companies that plan to assist in the construction of ports in Tanzania are generally state-owned enterprises. They are based on the long term and do not pursue too fast a return on capital. Therefore, cooperation with these less developed countries can often last for decades.
This means that a large amount of funds will be occupied for decades, and the return of capital and profits will be too slow. British and Japanese companies are private enterprises . Whether in terms of willingness or objective needs, they cannot tolerate billions of dollars in construction funds being occupied for decades, even if the project can be profitable.
The Bagamoyo Port project is just one example of the inability of Western private companies to invest in infrastructure in underdeveloped countries, but the truth behind it is correct.
Now, in order to compete with China for influence, Biden wants to let private companies from Western countries help the United States invest in infrastructure projects in developing countries. The idea may be a good one, but whether it will actually be effective is still unknown.
What's more, the United States claims to invest in developing countries without any strings attached. However, the cooperation agreement signed with Nepal some time ago is there. The United States only assists Nepal with 500 million US dollars, and wants Nepal to sell part of its sovereignty. .
In summary, Biden’s idea of promoting the American version of “One Belt, One Road” is probably true, but how likely is this idea to be realized, but there is still a big question mark? The root cause of the decline of Western countries' global influence in recent years is that they shout loud slogans, but in practice they become "dwarfs" in action.
does not fundamentally change this way of doing things. will imitate China's experience and try to compete with China. It is doomed to humiliate itself.
