Meloni meets Xi as Italian PM seeks to ‘relaunch’ ties with Beijing

Giorgia Meloni is in China for the first time since she became prime minister as she seeks to improve economic ties.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has hailed China as an “important interlocutor” in managing global tensions as she met Chinese President Xi Jinping in efforts to “relaunch” ties with Beijing.

“There is growing insecurity at an international level, and I think that China is inevitably a very important interlocutor to address all these dynamics,” she told Xi on Monday at a meeting at Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

The two countries must “think together on how to guarantee stability, how to guarantee peace”, Meloni said.

Meloni is visiting China for the first time since she took office nearly two years ago and has pledged to “relaunch” ties strained by her country’s departure from Beijing’s vast Belt and Road infrastructure project late last year.

The Chinese president, in turn, hailed “long-established, friendly” ties between Beijing and Rome.

“Both sides uphold tolerance, mutual trust and mutual respect with each choosing its own development path,” he said.

Balanced trade relations?

In 2019, Italy became the only member of the Group of Seven industrialised democracies to join Xi’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is building transport and digital infrastructure to link Asia, Africa and Europe.

And while Italy eventually left the infrastructure investment scheme last year under pressure from the United States over concerns about Beijing’s economic reach, Rome signalled it still wanted to forge stronger trade ties with the world’s second largest economy.

The Italian prime minister told Xi she hoped to “create trade relations that are as balanced as possible”.

Meanwhile, European Union trade policy has become increasingly protective over concerns that China’s production-focused development model could see it flooded with cheap goods as Chinese firms look to step up exports amid weak domestic demand.

In July, the European Commission confirmed it would impose preliminary tariffs of up to 37.6 percent on imports of electric vehicles made in China, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing.

Chinese officials have warned of a possible trade war should Brussels not back down.

Beijing is also lobbying EU member states to oppose more tariffs on Chinese-built electric vehicles in an October vote although Italy, Spain and France have indicated they would back the tariffs.

“Both sides face important opportunities for mutual development,” Xi told Meloni at the start of their meeting. “If countries are connected, they will advance together. If they are closed, they will retreat.”

“China and Italy should uphold the spirit of the Silk Road, … so that the bridge of communication between East and West through it can rebound into a new era.”