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Where did China’s belt and road plans go wrong in Italy?
- There were high economic hopes when Rome signed up for Beijing’s infrastructure initiative in 2019
- That involvement could all soon come to end amid a lack of outcomes and bigger tensions within the European Union
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Italy’s position should be clearer when Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her fellow Group of Seven leaders meet in Japan later this month.
Four years after Rome signed up for Beijing’s massive infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative, Meloni will reportedly say where her country stands on the partnership.
When Italy signed on in 2019, it was the first G7 country to join the initiative and did so even as the China-US rivalry began hitting its stride and wariness was emerging in the European Union over the bloc’s economic ties with Beijing.
For China, Italy’s decision was a diplomatic win in its efforts to use the initiative to expand its global influence, particularly to counter the United States. For Italy, it was seen as a chance to revitalise its economy.
But now – as Beijing prepares to host belt and road partners later this year – there are signs Rome could be ready to withdraw.
If Italy does pull out and fall in line with the European Union’s derisking approach towards China it will be a major diplomatic setback for Beijing but the economic fallout may be limited, observers say.
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