Italy and China Move Closer Together On Silk Road

Following Italy’s withdrawal from China’s prestige project of the “New Silk Road”, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is seeking dialogue.

After resentment over Italy’s withdrawal from China’s prestige project of a “New Silk Road”, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is easing relations.

Italy abandons Chinese Silk Road project

Relations between Italy and China have recently been marked by disagreements. In December, Meloni informed the Chinese side of her country’s withdrawal from the Silk Road project, which involves billions of dollars in infrastructure projects worldwide.

Previously, Italy had been the only country in the Group of Seven (G7) to be a member of the Chinese infrastructure project since 2019. The decision was made by the previous government in Rome, in which Meloni was not involved. The reason for Italy’s withdrawal is that the economic hopes associated with membership had not been fulfilled.

Meloni promotes economic cooperation with China

In China, Meloni also sought economic proximity again. On Sunday, she had already signed a three-year action plan for economic cooperation with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. The aim is to “strengthen the work already done, but also to explore new forms of cooperation and at the same time to create a balance in trade relations,” said Meloni at the meeting with Xi.

At an economic forum in Beijing on Sunday, the head of government criticized the imbalance in investment. Chinese investments in Italy accounted for about a third of Italian investments in China. She would like to see this gap narrow.