By Jessica.
The correspondent of the British Broadcasting Corporation in Brussels.
The image is from the same source.
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China's Belt and Road strategy has extended into the Western Balkans.
The EU has revealed details of a 300 billion global investment plan, which is described as a "true alternative" to China's Belt and Road strategy.
The Global Gateway scheme should become a trusted brand according to the European Commission President.
China has funded rail, roads and ports but has been accused of leaving some countries with debt.
The Commission chief said that countries needed trusted partners to design sustainable projects.
The EU is looking at how it can leverage billions of euros from member states, financial institutions and the private sector. This will mostly be a form of guarantees or loans.
Mrs von der Leyen said that the EU wanted to show that a different, democratic approach could deliver on projects that focused on tackling climate change as well as global health security and sustainable development for developing countries.
She explained that projects had to be of high quality, with a high level of transparency and good governance, and had to deliver tangible results for the countries involved. Africa will be a major focus of the scheme according to an EU official.
China's strategy has reached into Africa, Asia, and the EU too. The China Road and Bridge Corporation built a key bridge in Croatia, while the Cosco company owns a large part of the Greek container port at Piraeus.
The image is from the same source.
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The Peljesac bridge in Croatia was built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation.
"When it comes to investment choices, the few options that exist are often too small to have a big impact," said the Commission president.
Andrew Small, a Senior Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told the BBC that it marked the first serious effort from the European side to put packages together and figure out financing mechanisms so countries considering taking loans from China have an alternative option.
The ambassador to the EU from China said at a meeting last month that Beijing would be happy if the EU's Global Gateway strategy was open. He warned that any attempt to turn infrastructure projects into a tool for political gain would fail the expectation of the international community.
Belt and Road is a central piece of Chinese foreign policy.
While it has developed trade links by investing money into new roads, ports, railways and bridges, it has also been criticized as a means of providing "predatory loans" in what is labelled "debt-trap diplomacy".
There are people who argue that the picture is more complicated and that borrowing large sums of money is not risk-free. China met a need that others did not.
China's economic footprint has grown as tensions with the West have increased.
Andrew Small says the question is whether the EU can act in this space.
Is it too rigid andbogged down by bureaucratic fighting? He argues that if they fail at this, it's a big miss.
A diplomat told me that it was a good sign that Europe was asserting its influence.
That's a common interest we share with our friends in the US and UK.
Scott Morris is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development.
At the G7 last June, the US launched its own "Build Back Better World" initiative. "This is a noisy space with a lot of brands bumping into each other," says Mr Morris.
He's hopeful of success for the Global Gateway initiative. He says that it's a chance for Europe to achieve a scale of financing that can do some good in developing countries.
The EU has argued that it wants to create links not dependency.
This is also about influence, as the Commission continues to look for ways to flex its muscles on the geopolitical stage and, in turn, find out how strong those muscles are.
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What is China's One Belt, One Road?
Ursula von der Leyen.
China.
The European Union.
