REUTERS: The Group of Seven (G7) nations vowed on Friday to tackle what they called unfair business practices by China that were undermining their workers and industries, according to a draft statement on the final day of their annual summit.
The G7 also warned of action against Chinese financial institutions that helped Russia obtain weaponry for its war against Ukraine.
Pope Francis joined the leaders of Italy, the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Japan in southern Italy on Friday, a historic appearance at a G7 to take part in a discussion on artificial intelligence.
The pope had meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and was due later to have talks with other leaders, including US President Joe Biden.
The draft summit statement, reviewed by Reuters, stressed the G7 was not trying to harm China or thwart its economic development but would “continue to take actions to protect our businesses from unfair practices, to level the playing field and remedy ongoing harm”.
Washington expected to see unprecedented unity across the G7 in confronting China’s non-market policies and practices, a senior US official at the G7 said.
The US this week imposed fresh sanctions on China-based firms supplying semiconductors to Russia amid worries over Beijing’s increasingly aggressive stance against Taiwan and run-ins with the Philippines over rival maritime claims.
“China is not supplying weapons, but the ability to produce those weapons and the technology available to do it, so it is, in fact, helping Russia,” Biden told reporters at the summit on Thursday after signing a bilateral security pact with Zelenskiy.
During the first day of their meeting in southern Italy, the G7 nations agreed on a deal to provide $50 billion of loans for Ukraine backed by interest from frozen Russian assets – hailing the accord as a powerful signal of Western resolve.
Biden held talks on Friday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the summit host, where they agreed to pursue all options to impose further costs on Russia.
In the draft, G7 leaders also promised sanctions against entities that helped Russia circumvent sanctions on its oil by transporting it fraudulently.
