Italy and China sign three-year action plan

Italy and China signed a three-year action plan on Sunday to implement previous agreements and experiment with new forms of cooperation, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said during an official visit to the Chinese capital.

Meloni is trying to reset relations with China as fears of a trade war with the European Union intertwine with continued interest in attracting Chinese investment in autos and other industries.

“We certainly have a lot of work ahead of us, and I am convinced that this work can be useful at such a difficult time at the global level, and also important at the multilateral level,” Meloni said at the start of a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang.

The Italian prime minister’s five-day visit comes months after Italy withdrew from the New Silk Road initiative, a policy signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping aimed at building energy and transportation infrastructure around the world to boost global trade while deepening China’s ties with other nations.

Italy’s decision to join in 2019 gave China an inroad into Western Europe and a symbolic boost in its then-raging trade war with the United States, the Associated Press (AP) reported, but Rome says the promised economic benefits have not materialized and its accession has caused friction with other Western European governments and the United States.

Italy, however, remains interested in establishing strong economic relations with China.

Stellantis, a major group that includes Italy’s Fiat, announced last May that it would form a joint venture with Leapmotor, a Chinese electric vehicle startup, to sell electric cars in Europe.

Electric vehicles have become a symbol of growing trade tensions between China and the European Union (EU), with the bloc imposing temporary tariffs of up to 37.6% on Chinese-made electric vehicles in early July. The two sides are negotiating to try to resolve the issue by early November.

Meanwhile, China has launched an “anti-dumping” investigation into European pork exports, just days after the EU announced tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

Meloni, who arrived in Beijing on Saturday, had already met Li Qiang in New Delhi last September during the annual G-20 summit, which brings together the leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies.