Beijing: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in China with a mission to enhance cooperation with the world’s second-largest economy and recalibrate trade relations, following Italy’s departure from the Belt and Road Initiative. This marks Meloni’s first visit to China as prime minister.
During her visit, Meloni emphasized Italy’s desire to rebalance economic ties with Beijing. “Today, Italian investment in China is about three times as much as Chinese investment in Italy,” Meloni stated to reporters. “We clearly want to work to remove obstacles for our products to access the Chinese market.”
When asked about her government’s goals, Meloni highlighted Italy’s aim to “strengthen our cooperation with a view to … clearly rebalancing trade.” Italy’s strategic importance to China is underscored by its previous engagement with Beijing.
Italy’s position could influence European Union policies as the bloc considers new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. EU members are scheduled to vote in October on whether to impose additional tariffs. Italy is among the countries that have expressed support for this measure.
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In 2019, Italy became the only G7 country to join Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to revive the ancient Silk Road trade route. Although Italy exited the initiative last year under U.S. pressure, it remains committed to expanding its trade relations with China’s $18.6 trillion economy.
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Italy And China-EU Relations
Regarding her discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Meloni confirmed that while she did not specifically address the issue of Chinese automakers setting up factories in Italy, “The issue of electric mobility is one of the topics included in our memorandum of industrial cooperation.”
Meloni underscored Italy’s significant role in China-EU relations, currently overshadowed by discussions on tariffs. She expressed hope for trade relations that are “as balanced as possible,” noting, “As I have said many times, we were the only nation among the great nations of Western Europe to be part of the Silk Road. But we were not the nation that had the best trade with China? Far from it.” She pointed out that other European countries have enjoyed a higher volume of Chinese investment.
