Politics Meloni wants to reshape relations with China
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has signed a three-year action plan for economic cooperation with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. As Meloni said during her state visit to Beijing, she wants to use the document to explore new opportunities for cooperation with China. The exact contents of the action plan were not disclosed.
28.07.2024, 14:43
SDA
Meloni also spoke of wanting to make trade relations with the People's Republic "fairer", as reported by the Italian news agency Ansa. Last year, Italy's trade deficit with China grew to over 40 billion euros.
At an economic forum in Beijing on Sunday, the head of government also criticized the imbalance in investment: "Chinese investment in Italy accounts for around a third of Italian investment in China," said the 47-year-old politician. She would like to see this gap narrow.
Meloni landed in the Chinese capital on Saturday. She is expected to meet China's head of state Xi Jinping for talks on Monday.
Relations between Italy and China have recently been characterized by disagreements. In December, Meloni informed the Chinese side of her country's withdrawal from the Chinese prestige project for a "New Silk Road".
Italy had previously been the only country in the Group of Seven major democratic economic powers (G7) to be a member of Chinese leader and party leader Xi Jinping's infrastructure project since 2019. The decision was made by the former 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.
