ROME: Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni on Sunday vowed to “relaunch” cooperation with China, signing a three-year action plan during her first official visit to Beijing since assuming office.
Meloni, made the announcement during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, as Rome intends to improve trade ties with Beijing after it withdrew President Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road infrastructure investment project last year.
She said her five-day tour was a “demonstration of the will to begin a new phase, to relaunch our bilateral cooperation”.
The industrial cooperation memorandum signed by China and Italy includes industrial sectors such as electric mobility and renewables, Meloni later said.
Meloni, who sees Chinese investment as a way to boost Italy’s economic growth, is scheduled to meet Xi and China’s top legislator, Zhao Leji, during the visit.
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She also attended an Italy-China business forum, to which many companies including Italian tyre-maker Pirelli, defence group Leonardo, energy group ENI, wine producers and several Italian luxury fashion groups such as Dolce & Gabbana were invited.
The PM said the forum provided another signal of the mutual interest. In 2019, Italy joined the massive Belt and Road Initiative but withdrew under U.S. pressure over concerns about Beijing’s economic reach last year.
Meloni’s government said the deal had brought no benefits to Italy. China is Italy’s largest non-EU trading partner after the U.S.
According to Chinese state media, the visit was aimed at “clarifying some misunderstandings” over Italy’s withdrawal from the Belt and Road and stressing the importance of economic relations.
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The Italian government is currently holding talks with Chinese automakers as part of efforts to attract another major manufacturer to the country.
