February 8, 2025
Italy moves to ease ties with China without upsetting Beijing

[ad_1]

(Bloomberg) — When Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani travels to China this weekend, he will balance two competing interests: laying the groundwork for Italy’s exit from a contentious investment deal with Beijing, while the world’s other Trying to avoid breaking up with the largest economy.

most read from bloomberg

During the three-day visit starting Saturday, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other officials and discuss the possibility of abandoning the Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to deepen economic ties with the allies. There is an investment agreement designed for Just before boarding a plane to China, Tajani said the 2019 accord had not lived up to expectations.

“The Belt and Road was a decision taken in the past,” Tajani told Francine Laqua in a Bloomberg Television interview on Saturday at the Ambrosetti Forum in Sernobio, Italy. Whatever Italy decides about the deal, “it will not be a message against China,” he said.

Bloomberg previously reported that Italy is signaling to allies that it intends to pull out of the BRI. But implementing such a scenario would require a significant diplomatic effort.

Meloni has said she will visit China in the coming months as part of an outreach initiated by Tajani. The issue is sensitive, especially after the Chinese ambassador to Italy warned that there would be “negative consequences” if Rome pulled out of the deal.

Italy must decide by the end of the year whether to renew its participation in the program that was once the backbone of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s efforts to deepen economic ties around the world.

Italy’s membership of the BRI has become a dilemma for the government after its exit from the Group of Seven countries. It raised questions about Rome’s foreign alliances at a time of growing rivalry between China and the US, which is suspicious of Beijing’s ambitions.

The controversial deal with China has had a twofold effect on trade, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Eurostat data.

While imports from China picked up between 2020 and 2022 following the signing of the Belt and Road Memorandum, the trend for exports has been more volatile. After rising nearly 20% in 2021, they grew only 5% last year, lagging behind the pace of inflation.

Tajani said Italian exports to China in 2022 were to total €16.5 billion ($17.8 billion), behind both Germany and France. The main products that Italy exports to China are pharmaceuticals and equipment. Earlier this year, exports jumped due to a surge in shipments from a Pfizer Inc plant that produces the anti-Covid drug paxlovid.

Italy is caught in the middle of rising tensions between Washington and China, exacerbated by Beijing’s support for Russia. European countries are struggling to balance a desire to engage with China on trade and investment while holding back from claims of economic coercion.

The European Union has urged member states to tighten export controls on technology that could be exploited by rivals and warned not to share information with “countries of concern” on AI and quantum computing for military use. You can use.

Earlier this year, the Dutch government said it would block Europe’s most valuable technology company, ASML Holding NV, from shipping some of its machines to China.

Bloomberg previously reported that the US actively pressured Rome to take a public stance on the issue and pull out of an investment deal with China, according to people familiar with the talks.

–With assistance from Giovanni Salzano, Daniele Lepido, Tommaso Ebhardt and Sonia Sarletti.

(Updated with the Chinese Ambassador to Italy in the fifth paragraph)

Most read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.

Source

[ad_2]

Leave a Reply