In a Sunday interview, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that good relations with China are achievable even without the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Italy is the only major Western nation to join China’s BRI plan to recreate the Silk Road to connect China to Asia, Europe, and beyond.
In an interview with Il Messaggero daily, Meloni said it was too early to predict Italy’s decision on whether to stay in the project, which it joined in 2019. Washington and Brussels criticized him.
“Our assessment is very delicate and touches upon many interests,” said Meloni. Unless either side gives three months’ notice, the deal will automatically renew in March 2024.
Before winning office in a September election, Meloni told Reuters she had “no political will… to favour Chinese expansion into Italy or Europe”.
Italy was the only G7 affluent democracy to join the Belt and Road pact, but Meloni observed that it was not the European and Western countries with the strongest economic and trade links with China.
“This means it is possible to have good relations, also in important areas, with Beijing,” she said.
Italy is unlikely to renew the Belt and Road Accord. A senior government official told Reuters earlier this month.
As Rome reviews a shareholder deal at Pirelli (PIRC.MI), whose biggest investor is Sinochem, the right-wing government’s approach toward China will be tested.
China is a major market for most G7 nations, especially exporters like Japan and Germany.
According to officials and academics, G7 leaders agreed to “de-risk” without “decoupling” from China during a conference last weekend, reflecting European and Japanese concerns about pushing Beijing too far.
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