EU officials told EURACTIV.com that "the EU position has not changed". The bloc decided not to become a member when the massive plan was presented more than five years ago. Member states are free to join individually, as nearly half of them have already done.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's presence at the Belt and Road Initiative Forum in Beijing Friday and Saturday, in addition to Greece's joining the initiative of 16 countries of Eastern and Southeastern countries with strong relations with China, shows how far Greece has come since 2009. That was when China's state-owned Cosco [!] took over part of Piraeus's [!] container port. That initiative by a New Democracy [!] government was opposed bitterly by other parties and vested interests. However, despite the obstacles that they set up, PASOK and SYRIZA contributed toward a closer relationship with China.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters on Friday that apart from the 37 state and government heads, the Apr. 25-27 event will also be attended by representatives of up to 150 countries and international organizations, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde.

Among the presidents or prime ministers likely to attend are from Italy, Portugal, Greece, Russia, Chile, Austria, Switzerland, Singapore, Philippines, Kenya, Pakistan, Egypt, Czech Republic, Hungary, Serbia, Mongolia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Many western countries won't send their top leaders to attend the meeting. These include the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Australia or Spain.

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LEAK: Europe puts pressure on Beijing ahead of EU-China summit
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Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.