G7 backs Biden infrastructure plan to rival China’s belt and road initiative

Scheme is part of wider push for G7 leaders to question China on human rights, Taiwan and Covid-19

The Group of Seven rich nations have agreed plans to set up an alternative to China's belt and road initiative as part of a wide push back against China covering human rights, supply chains, support for Taiwan and demands for Beijing to reveal more about the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But Biden is being urged by other G7 leaders, including the Italian prime minister Mario Draghi, the current chair of the G20, not to push competition with China to the extent that it prevents Chinese cooperation over other critical issues such as the climate crisis.