(Bloomberg) – Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni China is launching a charm offensive with Beijing to shield trade and economic ties after pulling Italy out of China’s controversial global investment initiative last year.
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Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will meet Chinese Trade Minister Wang Wentao in Verona, Italy, on Friday to open a business dialogue, and Meloni will travel to China in the coming months, according to a person familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The initiative from Rome comes after the European Union launched a massive effort to reduce the risk from China, to better protect supply lines and ensure access to critical materials and technologies, especially after Beijing stopped Moscow in its war against Ukraine has supported.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to China this weekend to talk about trade and Ukraine.
Strengthening ties with Beijing is part of a new push for Italian diplomacy that Deputy Foreign Minister Edmondo Cirielli has described as “pragmatic but not cynical.” The approach is based on a strong commitment to NATO and the transatlantic partnership and the promotion of good relations with so-called opponents of the system such as Beijing, Tehran and even Moscow.
Italy was the only Group of Seven country to sign Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative – a global infrastructure deal aimed at expanding Beijing’s influence, particularly in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. The move sparked considerable anger from the US and its allies.
By withdrawing from the BRI, Rome, which holds the G-7 presidency this year, wanted to avoid any kind of backlash from China, a key export market. Even as Italy prepared to publicly withdraw from the pact, Italy was careful about how it conveyed this message to the world and avoided an open abandonment of the initiative.
Italy’s top export to China is pharmaceutical products, which amounted to 4.4 billion euros ($4.7 billion) last year, almost a fifth of total exports of 19 billion euros. China exported 46.8 billion euros to Italy.
“We want to open a new phase in relations between Italy and China and invest in a bilateral partnership,” Tajani said on Thursday.
The move could be a political victory for Meloni if she manages to maintain trade ties with China that are important to the business world while keeping a promise to her party, the Brothers of Italy, which called for Rome to leave the BRI, which is also known as the Silk Road designated.
Meloni’s government currently has one of the largest parliamentary majorities in recent memory and could play a crucial role in determining the balance of power in Brussels in the upcoming European elections in June.
“The government kept its election promise to withdraw from the Silk Road because it was clear to everyone that the agreement was not in Italy’s favor,” Giangiacomo Calovini, a Meloni party MP on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview. “In the current, extremely volatile situation, there is nothing wrong with having an open dialogue with Beijing” in the hope that it will strengthen trade with a market as important as China’s, he said.
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