Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni is going to visit China. On Thursday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Meloni will be visiting China from July 27 to July 31. Chinese experts are saying that the purpose of Meloni’s visit is to resolve differences over the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI). They are saying that Meloni is coming to China in an attempt to overcome the regret of being separated from China’s ambitious project BRI.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said during a press conference that Meloni will meet President Xi Jinping during her visit to China. She will also meet Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and top leader Zhao Leji and bilateral issues will be discussed.
Meloni’s visit to China is happening after Italy withdrew from BRI. Also, she is visiting China for the first time after becoming the Prime Minister.
America was angry when Italy joined BRI
Italy, the only G-7 country involved in China’s ambitious project BRI, withdrew from the project in December 2023. Italy became a member of BRI in 2019 and the country’s Prime Minister at that time was Five Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte.
Italy’s joining the BRI was seen as a major victory for Chinese President Xi Jinping as Italy was the only major European country to join the project.
Italy was heavily criticized by Western countries, including the US, for joining the Chinese project. The Italy-China BRI agreement included building new railways and modernizing existing railways, and developing ports so that the whole of Europe could be connected to China and Asia.
The deal was due to be renewed at the end of 2023 but before that Meloni’s government announced its withdrawal from it.
‘Meloni is coming to China to overcome the regret of withdrawing from BRI’
Now with Meloni’s visit to China, Chinese experts are hopeful that Italy’s differences regarding BRI will be resolved.
Speaking to China’s state-run newspaper Global Times, Zhao Junjie, a research fellow at the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Meloni is coming to China because she possibly regrets her withdrawal from the BRI and wants to make up for it.
He says, ‘The purpose of this visit is probably to overcome the regret of withdrawing from BRI and to clear some misunderstandings personally.’
The Global Times said in the article that Meloni’s visit to China shows that the reason for Italy’s withdrawal from BRI was solely and only the pressure from America and Western countries.
The Global Times wrote, ‘The visit once again shows that the reason for Italy’s withdrawal from BRI was not the reluctance to cooperate with China or Meloni’s political thinking but the heavy pressure from the US and Western countries. This is because despite Italy’s withdrawal from BRI, the trade between the two countries has not decreased and strong trade cooperation remains.
‘Italy sets an example in Europe…’
The article said that Italy has been facing recession in recent years and it has huge domestic debt and deficit. Meloni sees that the US and other Western countries are pressuring it to distance itself from China but are not offering any real help in return.
The Global Times wrote, ‘Through this visit, Italy can set an example in Europe and show other European countries that the benefits of increasing friendship and cooperation with China far outweigh the disadvantages of staying isolated from it.’
This month, Italy’s Minister for Enterprises and ‘Made in Italy’ Adolfo Urso visited China. During his visit to China, Urso said that China is a very important market for Italian companies and an important partner.
He had said that cooperation between China and Italy in the field of green energy, electric vehicles and government buses is becoming important, which is writing a new chapter of strategic cooperation between the two countries. He had said on social media that Italy has keen interest in Chinese investment, especially in the field of green energy.