Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni vowed to “relaunch” cooperation with China after signing a 3-year action plan during her first official visit to Beijing since taking office.
Meloni, who leads the right-wing government since 2022, made the announcement during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang as Rome aims to improve trade relations with Beijing after leaving China’s Belt and Road Initiative last year. passed. This initiative, which basically has investments in infrastructure, is the main project of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.
The Italian leader said that the five-day visit “demonstrates the will to start a new phase, to restart our bilateral cooperation”. The action plan, which was signed during the visit, aims to find new forms of cooperation, she said.
The industrial cooperation memorandum signed by Italy and China “includes strategic industry sectors such as electric mobility and renewable resources,” Meloni said.
Meloni, who sees Chinese investment as a way to boost Italy’s economic growth, will also meet with China and China’s top lawmaker, Zhao Leji, who is third in the leadership hierarchy, during the visit.
In 2019, Italy became the only Group of Seven (G7) country to join the Belt and Road Initiative, but withdrew from the initiative last year.
China is Rome’s largest trading partner – outside the European Union – after the United States. /REL
