Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in Beijing on Saturday for a five-day visit aimed at “relaunching” Italian-Chinese relations.
Meloni met on Sunday with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and signed a three-year action plan to expand trade and improve economic cooperation.
Meloni’s visit comes eight months after Italy’s first official visit to China. Announced It has withdrawn from China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Italy withdrew after China rejected requests to change a 2019 memorandum of understanding (MOU) that included Italy in the Chinese Communist Party’s grand plan to expand its influence around the world through infrastructure projects.
Italy was the first G7 country to join the BRI. headache Mr. Meloni criticized the MOU during his election campaign, calling it a “big mistake.” Other Italian officials have complained that the Belt and Road agreement has not delivered the benefits China promised for Italy.
Since withdrawing from the BRI was Meloni’s way of realigning Italy with the US and NATO, her decision understandably irked Beijing. The “Memorandum of Understanding on Industrial Cooperation” she signed: Signed Sunday’s meeting with Premier Li was a consolation, an effort to assuage hurt feelings by reassuring a frustrated Chinese Communist government that Italy still values economic ties with China.
A man looks at a screen showing news coverage of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on July 28, 2024. (Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images)
Meloni said the agreement was an “important step” towards rebuilding relations and a way to show Beijing that her government was “willing to start a new phase.” The new memorandum “includes strategic industrial sectors where China has already been operating at the cutting edge of technology for some time, such as electric vehicles and renewable energy.”
Meloni’s reference to electric vehicles (EVs) comes as the European Union Imposed Europe imposed tariffs on Chinese-made EVs to protect its domestic market, and China retaliated with a trumped-up “anti-dumping investigation” into European pork exports.
“Chinese investment in Italy is about one-third of Italian investment in China. We hope that this gap will be narrowed in an appropriate way,” she added.
The two men attended a China-Italy business forum late Sunday, where Li Said To improve its industrial capabilities, China will need “high-quality products” like those Italy can provide.
Li pledged to make the Chinese market more open, transparent and fair for foreign companies, but also said he hoped the “Italian side” would “work with China to provide a more fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies doing business in Italy.”
Meloni met Trump is due to meet Chinese dictator Xi Jinping on Monday to discuss the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as “rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.”
“There is growing unrest at the international level and I think China will inevitably be a very important negotiating partner in addressing these developments,” Meloni said, using very polite language to describe the unrest that China is stoking. Use force To seize territory from small countries in the Indo-Pacific.
President Xi responded that even if Italy withdraws from the Belt and Road Initiative, it should “uphold the spirit of the Silk Road, and allow the bridge of exchange between East and West to rise again in a new era.”
When Italy withdrew from the Belt and Road initiative, Chinese state media denounced Meloni as an evil US puppet, but Chinese coverage of his weekend visit to Beijing was much more positive.
“Amid the unstable political situation in Europe and the United States, Meloni’s visit is a good opportunity to bring stability, promote cooperation and resolve differences not only between China and Italy, but also between China and Europe as a whole,” state media said. Global Times Erupted on sunday.
Italy considers withdrawing from China’s Belt and Road initiative for global domination https://t.co/ZSJiHWjivP
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 11, 2023
“However, experts warn that the Italian government needs to show sufficient sincerity in cooperation with China after withdrawing from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and effectively manage differences, especially in tariff negotiations on Chinese-made electric vehicles.” Global Times he added menacingly.
of Global Times Citing various “China experts,” Meloni said he was, in effect, exploring ways to get Italy back in China’s good graces without rejoining the Belt and Road initiative, which would anger Washington.
The paper quoted Italian commentators praising China and rejecting EU complaints that Chinese production “overcapacity” would flood Europe with cheap EVs. China used these remarks as evidence that a part of the “silent majority” in the EU is willing to scrap tariffs and accept Chinese EVs.
of Global Times Meloni hopes Italy can rekindle ties with China and strengthen Europe against “divisive tactics” before the “worst case scenario” of Donald Trump being returned to the US presidency in November.
“Some observers believe Meloni hopes the visit will ease tensions with China that have been building up over the past year, open the market for Italian companies and attract more Chinese investment. But he must also ensure that Italy does not stray too far from the ‘de-risk’ agenda promoted by the EU,” he said. Global Times In another editorial on Saturday, the paper reiterated its argument that American and European tyrants are preventing Italy from falling into China’s pockets.
The Communist Party newspaper quoted Italy’s former undersecretary for economic development, Michele Geraci, as complaining that “Italy’s approach to China is heavily influenced by U.S.-China relations.”
“Caught between the economic attractiveness of China and the strategic demands of its Western allies, Italy has to navigate a complex situation,” Djerassi said.
“Within the EU, Italy appears to see itself as a mediator, arguing for a balanced approach that safeguards European interests while avoiding unnecessary escalation. This diplomatic tightrope walk highlights Italy’s efforts to maintain its sovereignty and economic prosperity amid an intensifying global power struggle,” he said.
