Very quietly, Italy has changed course and officially abandoned the controversial new Chinese Silk Road. In 2019, it was the first G7 country to join the massive Chinese infrastructure program (Belt and Road Initiative or BRI, according to its name in English), with which the Asian giant tries to connect with the main economies of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, to the disappointment of Washington. Four years later, Giorgia Meloni wanted to please her American allies and has notified Beijing that she is getting off this ship three months before March 2024, when the agreement should have been automatically renewed.
Meloni has decided to do so without publicly confronting Beijing. Three days ago, Italy delivered a note to the authorities of the Asian giant promising that despite leaving the infrastructure initiative, the strategic relations between both countries would continue. Both Italy and China have preferred not to make any official public communication. Beijing prefers it this way so as not to encourage other governments disappointed with its benefits to do the same, and Rome, because it has many economic interests at stake.
Now it remains to be seen if the good relations will continue or if, on the contrary, Beijing will want to take revenge with trade retaliation. The costs for Italy could be high – for example, in the luxury sector – and this has been evidenced by the weeks they have been negotiating diplomatically. To avoid tensions, Rome intended to change the terms of the agreement and instead of abandoning the Silk Road, its participation would be canceled for not renewing the accession, but the Chinese authorities did not agree, Corriere della Sera explained.
Italy joined the massive infrastructure program under the Executive of Giuseppe Conte, now leader of the 5 Star Movement. The official objective was to facilitate exports of Made In Italy products to the Chinese market, the fastest growing in the world, while increasing Chinese investments in Italy. But in the four years that Italy has been part of this initiative, exports to China have grown very slightly. If in 2019 they represented 13,000 million euros, in 2022 they amounted to 16,400 million. In contrast, Chinese imports from Italy have increased from 31.7 billion to 57.5 billion.
With Mario Draghi, relations have already cooled to the point that the former president of the European Central Bank prevented China from acquiring strategic companies in the microchip and truck sectors. During the electoral campaign that brought her to power, the leader of the Brothers of Italy announced that the decision to join the Silk Road had been a “big mistake.” During this time, Meloni has strived to become a reliable leader for the United States, showing her Atlanticist vocation and not taking any steps back in her support for Ukraine. A few months ago she already informed the President of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, during his visit to Rome in May, that although there was still no firm decision on it, his Executive was inclined to renounce the program. .
The problem was how to do it without economic and commercial repercussions. It is unknown what will happen, because until now no country has done it. The discretion to avoid a public breakup already indicates the delicacy of the issue. For this reason, Meloni has been explaining for some time that good relations can be had with China without being part of the BRI. In September, after a meeting with the Chinese Premier Li Quang within the framework of the G20 in New Delhi, the Italian president already said that there is more path than this program. “There are European nations that in recent years have not been part of the BRI but have been able to forge more favorable relations with China than we have,” she considered in a press conference.
