Italy tells China it will terminate belt and road agreement, eliminating G7 participation

Move by Rome follows campaign pledge by new Italian PM Meloni, who has been critical of Beijing
Italy was one of 148 countries to have signed a memomorandum of understanding that it would participate in the infrastructure programme

China-EU relations

Finbarr Berminghamin Brussels

Published: 12:21am, 7 Dec 2023

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Italy has formally told the Chinese government that it has decided to end its membership of the Belt and Road Initiative, leaving China’s flagship infrastructure drive without any G7 members.

A diplomatic note was delivered to Beijing three days ago on behalf of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, explaining that Rome would not renew a memorandum of participation.

The 2019 memorandum authorising Italy’s belt-and-road participation expires in March 2024, and if Rome did not give written warning of a decision to pull out three months ahead of time, it would have automatically renewed for a further five years.

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First reported on by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, with multiple Western news outlets subsequently relaying the news, the note also said that Italy wanted to “maintain a strategic friendship with China”.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani appeared to confirm the news at an event in Rome on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported. Tajani said Italy’s participation “has not produced the desired effects” and is no longer “a priority”, adding that non-participants have had “better results” than Italy.

The exit has been the subject of great speculation in recent months. Far-right leader Meloni vowed to leave the initiative when campaigning for office, describing the decision to sign up as “a mistake”, but has attempted to handle the departure delicately lest Beijing retaliate.

Italy was one of 148 countries to have signed a memorandum of understanding that it would participate in the infrastructure programme, which has been one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature initiatives.

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However, it was the only one from the Group of 7 economically advanced nations to sign on, and Rome’s participation has long been a bone of contention with Western allies, particularly the United States.

More than half of the EU’s members are still part of the Belt and Road Initiative although interest has waned in recent years as EU-China ties became strained. Viktor Orban was the only sitting head of state from an EU member to attend the recent Belt and Road forum in Beijing this year, although some other members sent lower-level delegations.

News of Italy’s exit comes on the eve of a high-stakes summit in Beijing. European Council and Commission Presidents Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, along with the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell, will meet with Xi and Premier Li Qiang on Thursday for talks on thorny issues ranging from trade grievances to China’s relationship with Russia.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (right) and the European Parliament president, Roberta Metsola, during a meeting in Rome on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Von der Leyen, in particular, has been a staunch belt-and-road critic, and has spearheaded the launch of Global Gateway, pitched in Brussels as a European alternative. In a now-famous speech on China in March, the German used the initiative as an example of Beijing’s global ambitions.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s clear goal is a systemic change of the international order with China at its centre … we have seen it with the Belt and Road Initiative, new international banks or other China-led institutions set up to rival the current international system,” she said.

Chinese diplomats, however, have frequently floated the idea of collaborative projects between the two programmes. The EU’s official response is that Global Gateway is open to any partner who can meet standards on metrics such as transparency, human rights, and sustainability.

“I don’t see much space for cooperation between Belt and Road and Global Gateway. I don’t think that’s the intention,” said a senior EU official ahead of the summit.

“I don’t see any overlap in terms of what the largest Global Gateway is doing – partially because we have a very different mindset about these projects, about transparency, about not bringing countries into a debt trap,” the official said.