Italy opts out of Belt And Road Initiative
After months of uncertainty about Rome’s future in the grandiose project, two government sources told media on Wednesday that Italy has formally informed China that it is leaving the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Italy: the first western nation to join BRI
Italy became the first and so far only significant Western country to join the program in 2019, allaying American concerns that it would give China access to critical infrastructure and sensitive technologies.
Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister, stated that Italy had not really benefited from the agreement, which is modeled after the former Silk Road that connected China to the West, when she took office last year.
Beijing was notified via letter
The 2019 agreement ends in March 2024 and would have automatically been extended if Rome had not withdrawn with at least three months’ written notice. According to a government source, Beijing was notified through letter “in recent days” that Italy would not be extending the agreement.
“We have every intention of maintaining excellent relations with China even if we are no longer part of the Belt and Road Initiative,” a second government source said. “Other G7 nations have closer relations with China than we do, despite the fact they were never in (the BRI),” he added. Italy will assume the presidency of the G7 in 2024.
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Belt And Road Initiative was one-sided deal
Italy has been battling an increasing trade deficit with China, much like a number of other nations taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative. Italy aimed to increase exports’ access to China’s enormous market and draw in investments through the BRI.
It saw a chance to use its political clout to join the BRI in an attempt to outbid rivals for Chinese investment and attention. However, the trajectory of the economic relations between China and Italy rarely changed at all.
Italy’s exports to China have climbed from 14.5 billion euros to 18.5 billion euros since it joined the BRI, but the growth in Chinese exports to Italy has been far more pronounced, rising from 33.5 billion euros to 50.9 billion euros.
Its trade imbalance with China has thereby doubled in the last three years, to 2022. Due to the BRI’s lack of significant returns, a number of foreign nations have been considering ending their relationship with China.
