China Touts BRI Benefits As Italy Dumps Deal

China's foreign minister is attempting to persuade his Italian counterpart to recognize the advantages of President Xi Jinping's flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a program of Chinese-financed infrastructure projects.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani visited Beijing and met with counterpart Wang Yi to discuss the possibility of exiting the agreement that Rome had signed in 2019, citing unmet expectations. I Photo: Antonio Tajani Facebook

This comes as Rome is unlikely to renew the agreement, as reported by the Associated Press (AP).

During a meeting on Monday, Wang Yi informed Antonio Tajani that bilateral trade had increased from $50 billion to nearly $80 billion, and Italy's exports to China had risen by approximately 30% over the past five years.

Although these figures have not been independently verified, Italy's conservative government has expressed skepticism about the benefits of the arrangement.

In 2019, Italy became the only European country to join the initiative under then-Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, but it is not expected to renew the agreement when it expires at the end of this year.

Despite the exchange, Italy's departure from the BRI, a Chinese initiative primarily focused on building infrastructure and expanding influence in Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe, seems unlikely to be prevented.

Tajani visited Beijing to discuss the possibility of exiting the agreement that Rome had signed in 2019, citing unmet expectations.

Bloomberg News reported that China's investments in BRI projects had declined, and direct investments in Italy amounted to only $33 million in 2021, a small sum compared to Beijing's promises of billions of dollars.

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