Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is on a five-day visit to Beijing over July 27-31, aimed at strengthening economic ties with China, particularly in high-tech, and also to discuss the war in Ukraine. While Italy has generally had close ties to China, there was a certain hiatus when the new Meloni government decided to “unjoin” its membership in the Belt and Road Initiative. Italy had been the only G7 country to join the BRI in March 2019.
Meloni brought with her an entire coterie of Italian industrialists. In a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Meloni vowed to “relaunch” cooperation with China, announcing a three-year “action plan.” Speaking at a Business Forum in Beijing, attended by 150 business leaders from both China and Italy, including energy group ENI, tire maker Pirelli, the defense group Leonardo, wine producers and fashion designers like Dolce and Gabbana, Meloni said the industrial cooperation memorandum signed by Italy and China “includes strategic industrial sectors such as electric mobility and renewables” and called on Beijing to share “the new frontiers of knowledge with its partners.”
