Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, currently on an official visit to Beijing, announced the signing of a three-year action plan aimed at revitalizing cooperation between Italy and China. This move comes after Italy withdrew from China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) last year, having been the only G7 country to participate in the infrastructure and transportation project since its signing in 2019.
The announcement was made at the start of a meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang on July 28. This visit marks Meloni’s first official trip to China since assuming office in 2022.
Meloni expressed her satisfaction at being in Beijing for her government’s inaugural official visit, highlighting the importance of restarting bilateral cooperation. “I am very happy to be here for this government’s first official trip,” she stated, noting that the visit is a testament to the desire to embark on a new phase in their partnership, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of their global strategic partnership.
Chinese Ambassador to Italy, Jia Guide, reported that Meloni also attended the 7th China Italy Business Forum, where she and Premier Li Qiang signed the agreements. The three-year action plan encompasses trade, investment, education, environmental protection, and food security.
Meloni highlighted the significance of the six agreements signed, which include industrial cooperation in strategic sectors such as electric mobility and renewable energy. “It now includes strategic industrial sectors such as electric mobility and renewables, sectors where China has already been operating on the technological frontier for some time,” she remarked.
China has been engaged in trade conflicts with the United States and the European Union over electric vehicles and renewable energy products. Meloni termed the business forum as a “great opportunity” to enhance the partnership by evaluating successes and challenges to make trade relations fairer and more beneficial for both parties.
Italy has a notable trade deficit with China and an imbalance in investments, with Chinese investment in Italy being about a third of Italian investments in China. Meloni expressed her desire to address this gap, stating, “It’s a gap that I’d like to see narrowed in the right way.”
On December 6, 2023, Italy officially announced it would not renew the 2019 memorandum of understanding concerning its participation in the BRI. Italian President Sergio Mattarella is expected to visit China in October, as reported by Voice of America. Analysts suggest that these visits indicate Rome’s efforts to mend relations with Beijing following its withdrawal from the BRI, which was launched in 2013.
Italy remains China’s fourth-largest trading partner in the European Union, while China is Italy’s largest trading partner in Asia. Bilateral trade reached USD 80 billion, predominantly consisting of Chinese exports to Italy. Italian exports to China approached nearly USD 18 billion in 2022, up from USD 14 billion in 2019, while Chinese exports to Italy nearly doubled from over USD 34 billion to more than USD 62 billion during the same period.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Newsx staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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