China says Italy PM Meloni to visit from Saturday

BEIJING: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will visit China for five days from Saturday, Beijing said Thursday.

“At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang of the State Council, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will pay an official visit to China from July 27 to 31,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a statement.

The visit will be Meloni’s first to China since she took office in 2022.

Her administration withdrew from China’s vast Belt and Road infrastructure initiative last year, having been the only G7 nation to sign up.

Before taking office, Meloni said joining the initiative — a central pillar of President Xi Jinping’s bid to expand China’s clout overseas — had been a “mistake”.

Italy’s non-binding memorandum of understanding with China had contained broad undertakings for cooperation in logistics, infrastructure, financial and environmental sectors.

But details were scarce, and the lack of transparency fuelled distrust among Italy’s allies.

Meloni’s administration has since sought to mend ties with China, a key trading partner.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani visited Beijing last year, meeting Chinese counterpart Wang Yi who said cooperation with Italy had been “fruitful”.