Australia, the United States, India and Japan are talking about establishing a joint regional infrastructure scheme as an alternative to China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, in an attempt to counter Beijing’s spreading influence, the Australian Financial Review reported on Monday, citing a senior US official. European leaders have also singled out a new assertiveness by China, particularly its Belt and Road Initiative, as a spur to develop a joint foreign policy that could see Europe contest China’s infrastructure drive into central Asia. China’s Belt and Road Initiative aims to connect Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa with a vast logistics and transport network, using roads, ports, railway tracks, pipelines, airports, transnational electric grids and even fiber optic lines.