China has made a formal request to become a member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a move that would add to ever-closer ties between Europe and the world’s second-biggest economy.
EBRD membership would also open new channels for China to fund infrastructure and other investments along its new Silk Road, or “One Belt, One Road” project, linking it to markets in Europe and the rest of the world.
The application was confirmed by the bank as Xi Jinping, China’s president, ended a four-day visit to the UK last week that included promises of trade and investment deals worth tens of billions of pounds. Mr Xi and David Cameron, the UK prime minister, are understood to have touched on the issue of stronger ties between China and the EBRD during the visit, a possibility that would be welcomed in London.