China, West Need Common Set of Rules to Tackle Global Challenges - Merkel
China and the Western world have their differences and rival interests but they will have to agree on a common set of rules governing multilateral cooperation, going forward, the German chancellor said on Friday
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th May, 2021) China and the Western world have their differences and rival interests but they will have to agree on a common set of rules governing multilateral cooperation, going forward, the German chancellor said on Friday.
"We need to continue to aim for cooperation think of climate protection, of the conference on biodiversity in Kunming this fall and other global challenges. Without China we won't be able tackle these challenges," Angela Merkel told the Global Solutions Summit in Berlin.
Speaking by video, the outgoing chancellor said that China was part and parcel of a host of multilateral organizations, including the Group of 20 developed economies.
"So, at the end of the day, it is about whether we will be able to agree on a common set of rules governing multilateral cooperation, even though we come from different social systems and even though we are competitors," she stressed.
The EU struck an investment deal with China last year, which Merkel said was a way of leveling the playing field on state subsidies, intellectual property and market access. But she admitted that the US felt much more strongly about its rivalry with China than the EU did.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told the summit that the question was how the EU should cooperate with China and not if, considered that the Asian nation accounted for 17% of the global industrial output and up to 30% of the global emissions.