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Added on the 26/03/2019 12:51:00 - Copyright : France 24 EN
A new cargo train will connect Italy and China directly, and the first service departed from the northern Italian city of Mortara on Tuesday, bound for China's Chengdu. The 11,000-killometer, or 6,800 mile, route stretches across the territories of Poland, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan before crossing all of Western China to arrive in Chengdu. The trip takes around 18 days, almost 20 days less than shipping the cargo by sea. The train consists of 17 coaches and 34 containers which can carry equipment, electronics, furniture, and cars.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, an international financial institution proposed by China, is largely seen as China’s answer to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Japanese-dominated Asian Development Bank.
During a state visit to Sweden, French President Emmnauel Macron urges Europe to take 'bold' decisions to support Ukraine, regardless of what the US decides. While the US has sent tens of billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022, Republican lawmakers are growing reluctant to keep supporting Kyiv, saying it lacks a clear end game as the fighting grinds on. SOUNDBITE
Speaking in New Delhi, French President Emmanuel Macron underlines the importance of internal cooperation, saying, "we have to work together to provide solutions to the rest of the world on what makes sense." "We have to resist the fragmentation of this world," he adds. SOUNDBITE
"You will be brothers in arms, fighting from the first to the last second": Emmanuel Macron meets the players of the French national rugby team, Les Bleus, at their base camp in Reuil-Malmaison, a few days before the Rugby World Cup kicks off in France. "You're going to win and you're going to do what it takes. We've been close a few times, but this time we all want it," the French president told them. IMAGES
French President Emmanuel Macron receives Li Qiang for a bilateral meeting at the Elysee Palace, on the sidelines of the international Summit for a New Global Financial Pact, organised in Paris. China's premier was received earlier in the day by French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne at Matignon. IMAGES