G7 Nations Urged to Unite on Key Industries and Russia Policies

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire calls for G7 cohesion to address China's industrial overcapacity and proposes using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. Le Maire emphasizes that Europe must rejuvenate its economy to match U.S. growth rates ahead of the G7 meeting.

The Group of Seven economic powers need to stand united in the face of China's overcapacity in key industries such as electric car batteries, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Wednesday ahead of a meeting with his G7 counterparts. Le Maire told journalists that the G7 also needed to forge a joint position on frozen Russian financial assets and that France was prepared to work on a U.S. proposal to use them to back a loan to Ukraine.

With the economic divergence between Europe and the United States growing, Le Maire also said that Europe needed to "awaken from its economic lethargy" and double its growth rate in the coming years.