Premier Li Keqiang and his wife Cheng Hong are greeted by EU ambassador to China Hans Dietmar Schweisgut upon their arrival at Brussels, Belgium, on Sunday. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

However, whether Europe can play a big role in the Belt and Road Initiative depends on many things, including capital, Erixon said.

“The simple fact is that European countries think very differently about the initiative, and not all have the money to spend.”

While in Brussels on Monday, Li will attend the 17th China-EU leaders’ meeting, the first since the change of EU leadership, after addressing a China-EU Business Summit to outline new economic opportunities for more than 400 businesspeople, and meeting President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz.

Cui Hongjian, a researcher of European studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said Li will look for new ways to expand China-EU cooperation during his first meeting with EU leaders, and international and regional issues will be on the agenda of the leaders’ meeting.

“There are increasing cooperation opportunities for China and the EU, such as connecting each other’s development strategies. Both China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Investment Plan for Europe are related to infrastructure construction and intercommunication,” he said.

Liu Jia contributed to this story.

zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn