Italy planning to exit China’s Belt and Road initiative: Report

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Sunday signaled to her Chinese counterpart Li Qiang that Italy is planning to exit from China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Bloomberg reported.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Saturday on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi and discussed bilateral ties. The Li-Meloni meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit assumed significance as the Italian government has openly expressed its desire to quit BRI, asserting that Beijing’s famed multibillion-dollar infrastructure initiative has not brought any benefits for Rome.

During the meeting between the leaders, Meloni told Li that Italy plans to withdraw from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road Initiative while still looking to maintain friendly relations with Beijing. Italy officially signed up for the pact in 2019.

The Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, who visited Beijing on September 5, has spoken critically about the BRI, saying that it “did not bring the results we expected” and many Italian parties were against Italy’s participation.

China announced plans to hold a third conference of the BRI in Beijing next month.

Earlier, Meloni had said that her government had until December to make a decision on the BRI. She had said it was a "paradox" that even if Italy is part of the BRI, it is not the G7 country with the strongest trading links to China.

Italy made an "improvised and atrocious" decision when it joined China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) four years ago as it did little to boost exports, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto had said in July.

Italy signed up to the BRI under a previous government, becoming the only major Western country to have taken such a step.