The EU is struggling to counter China’s growing influence around the world as Beijing proves more agile at providing infrastructure investment to countries in the global south, the bloc’s development chief has warned.Jutta Urpilainen, European commissioner for international partnerships, said complex bureaucracy and environmental and social conditions attached to EU financing made it hard for the bloc’s international investment strategy to counterbalance China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

“We are living in an era of geopolitical competition,” Urpilainen told the Financial Times. “We face a battle of narrative, but more and more we face a battle of offers,” she said, referring to China’s pledges of swift financing and rapid project completion.

“It’s true that we might not be the fastest partner,” she added. “China has been very strategic. If you travel, for instance, in Africa, you can see tangible outcomes of co-operation with China?.?.?.?Be it football stadiums, railways, ports or roads.”