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Italy says China trade deal not meeting expectations

A controversial investment deal with China has failed to meet Italian expectations, Rome's top diplomat said on Saturday ahead of a visit to Beijing, as speculation mounts that Italy will withdraw.

Published: 2 September 2023 17:04 CEST
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani addresses a conference in London in June 2023.
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani addresses a conference in London in June 2023. Ahead of a visit to Bejing, he has said that Italy's trade deal with China is not meeting expectations. Photo: HENRY NICHOLLS / POOL / AFP

In 2019, the highly indebted economy became the only nation from the G7 club of industrialised countries to take part in China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious programme, consisting of massive investments in infrastructure like ports, railways and airports, aims to improve trade ties between Asia, Africa and Europe.

Critics say the plan is a Trojan horse to increase Beijing’s influence.

The deal is due to be renewed automatically in March 2024 unless Italy withdraws this year.

“We want to continue to work closely with China, but we must also analyse exports: the Belt and Road Initiative has not produced the results we were hoping for,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told an economic forum.

He said Italian exports to China in 2022 were worth 16.5 billion euros ($17.8 billion), whereas the figures for France and Germany were much higher at 23 billion and 107 billion euros respectively.

Tajani will meet Chinese authorities during his trip to Beijing from Sunday to Tuesday and prepare a planned visit by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that some experts believe will confirm Italy’s exit from the deal.

The withdrawal “has likely already been agreed in principle with Chinese authorities”, Lorenzo Codogno, a former chief economist at the Italian treasury, said in a note.

Meloni “will make the official announcement during her state visit to Beijing, expected by mid-October, as a sign of respect for China’s leadership”, but the Italian parliament will have the final say, he added.

Meloni’s predecessor Mario Draghi froze the agreement and blocked large-scale Chinese investment in sectors deemed of strategic importance.

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EU

Italy’s Meloni hopes EU ‘understands message’ from voters

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Saturday she hoped the European Union would understand the "message" sent by voters in last weekend's elections, after far-right parties such as hers made gains.

Published: 15 June 2024 17:33 CEST
Italy's Meloni hopes EU 'understands message' from voters

Meloni, head of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party, which performed particularly well in the vote, urged the EU to “understand the message that has come from European citizens”.

“Because if we want to draw lessons from the vote that everything was fine, I fear it would be a slightly distorted reading,” she told a press conference at the end of a G7 summit in Puglia.

“European citizens are calling for pragmatism, they are calling for an approach that is much less ideological on several major issues,” she said.

Meloni’s right-wing government coalition has vehemently opposed the European Green Deal and wants a harder stance on migration.

“Citizens vote for a reason. It seems to me that a message has arrived, and it has arrived clearly,” she said.

EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Monday to negotiate the top jobs, including whether European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen will get a second term.

Von der Leyen’s centre-right European People’s Party strengthened its grip with the vote, but her reconfirmation is not yet in the bag.

The 65-year-old conservative was in Puglia for the G7 and likely used the summit to put her case to the leaders of France, Germany and Italy.

But Meloni refused to be drawn on whom she is backing.

“We will have a meeting on Monday, we’ll see,” she told journalists.

“We will also see what the evaluations will be on the other top roles,” she said.

Italian political watchers say Meloni is expected to back von der Leyen, but is unlikely to confirm that openly until Rome locks in a deal on commissioner jobs.

“What interests me is that… Italy is recognised for the role it deserves,” she said.

“I will then make my assessments.”

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani indicated that it was unlikely any decision would be made before the French elections on June 30 and July 7.

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