The official visit of the Italian Prime Minister to China was very fruitful, and Giorgia Meloni was received with all possible honours and hospitality.
Giorgia Meloni’s trip followed similar visits by leaders of major European countries such as Germany and France, but was much more positive. It can be said that the Italian guest’s arrival was somewhat unexpected and rather prolonged, as Meloni stayed in China for five days, enjoying, among other things, Chinese cuisine. She had previously met the Chinese leader in Bali in 2022. Last December, Italy officially withdrew from the Belt and Road Initiative agreement with China, in which it was the only participant among the G7 and NATO countries. At the time, Meloni said that cooperation in this direction had allegedly not produced the desired results, although such results were unlikely to be seen on a large scale in the years of the pandemic.
It is also worth noting that Italy chairs the G7 and signed the communique of that organization’s recent meeting, which was full of anti-Chinese rhetoric. Similarly anti-Chinese was the final document of the NATO summit in Washington, where Italy also left its mark there. Despite all this, the visit was, according to Italian diplomats, a great success. It included all sorts of protocol moments — from negotiations with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier of the State Council of China Li Qiang to a special event symbolising the unity of interest between the two ancient civilisations in culinary arts. The main outcome was the signing of a comprehensive three-year cooperation agreement between the two countries, apparently is meant to replace the terminated Belt and Road Initiative cooperation agreement.
It seems that debt-ridden Italy desperately needs to expand trade and economic relations with China, restore the flow of Chinese tourists and possibly attract Chinese investment. To achieve this, Meloni wants to take Italian-Chinese bilateral relations beyond the framework of Western-Chinese business relations, which are becoming increasingly confrontational. The general impression is that Italy is simply not allowed to pursue its national interests in its relations with China, forcing it to prioritise bloc politics over economic benefits. Meloni is making another attempt to reset Italian-Chinese relations.
In China, it seems, all this is well understood and the Italian Prime Minister was given the warmest and most generous welcome. Once again, praise is due to Chinese diplomacy, including the “leader’s diplomacy”, which does not hold grudges and patiently seeks ways to establish dialogue and contacts. Moreover, the Chinese have even made use of such a nuance as the Italians’ particular attitude to food, which is similar to that of the Chinese. There is a video on the Internet showing Meloni with colleagues in a restaurant eating Chinese noodles, which of course have national characteristics but are essentially not very different from pasta.
During her talks with Xi, Meloni emphasised that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, as well as the 700th anniversary of the death of Marco Polo. The Italian envoy is widely credited with opening up China to the West and is held in high esteem by the Chinese. The Italian guest was invited to open an exhibition dedicated to the anniversary at the Beijing Museum of World Art. Meloni did not miss the opportunity to recall that “Italy and China, as ancient civilisations, have always admired and learned from each other”. “Italy highly appreciates China’s international status and role, and is ready to inherit the ancient spirit of the Silk Road, develop a closer and higher-level partnership with China, open a new chapter in the comprehensive strategic partnership between Italy and China, and contribute to global progress,” said the Italian Prime Minister. They also reaffirmed their unwavering recognition of “One China” and their friendship and sincere desire for close cooperation.
Xi Jinping responded in an equally positive tone, recalling that China and Italy are located at opposite ends of the ancient Silk Road and that historical contacts should be used for the benefit of both countries and the world as a whole. The Chinese leader expressed his willingness to share the benefits of development and deepen cooperation with Italy in all fields, including electric vehicles and artificial intelligence, and asked his guest to ensure favourable conditions for Chinese companies in the Apennines. Among other things, Xi Jinping supported Italy’s hosting of the 2026 Winter Olympics and expressed the hope that Italy would grant visa benefits to Chinese citizens. In fact, Beijing has introduced a visa-free regime for five EU countries, including Italy, from 1 December 2023 and expects reciprocal steps. There have also been pledges to increase imports of Italian goods and rebalance trade, which is heavily skewed towards China.
“China hopes that Italy will understand and support China’s development concept and play a constructive role in promoting China-EU dialogue and the positive and stable development of China-EU relations,” Xi said. This is already a global policy in which China has given Italy a worthy place.
In the West, the Italians were immediately criticised, accused almost of being divided. It is very similar to the criticism of Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán for his peace mission during which he visited Beijing. Bloomberg even described China’s policy towards some European countries as “divide and conquer” and wrote that China allegedly urgently needs friends in the West.
Even so. Ultimately, China wants one thing: to be allowed to follow its unwavering line of peaceful coexistence, not to create barriers to global trade and communication between people. And for such a goal, all methods are good.