Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, informed her Chinese colleague Li Qiang on Sunday at the G20 Summit that her country intends to withdraw from China‘s expansive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
On the eve of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and spoke about bilateral relations. The Li-Meloni encounter took on importance since the Italian government publicly declared its desire to leave the BRI, claiming that Beijing’s renowned multibillion-dollar infrastructure plan has not benefited Rome.
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 that many Italian parties were against Italy’s participation.
China has announced its intention to host the third BRI meeting in Beijing the following month.
PM Meloni had earlier stated that the BRI decision-making deadline for her government was December. Even though Italy is a part of the BRI, she called it a “paradox” that it is not the G7 nation with the strongest trading ties to China.
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto claimed in July that Italy’s decision to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) four years ago was “improvised and atrocious” because it accomplished little to increase exports.
Italy was the only significant Western nation to join the BRI when it did so under a previous administration.
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