Italy Seeks Stronger Ties with China

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called for closer economic, cultural and scientific ties with China while visiting President Xi Jinping on her first official visit to Beijing since she became leader of Italy.

During their meeting, the Italian prime minister highlighted that her visit fell on a "double anniversary": the 20-year anniversary of the strategic partnership signed between China and Italy, as well as the 700-year anniversary since Marco Polo's passing.

"It is an anniversary that defines the antiquity and depth of our relationship, of the relations between two civilisations that are heirs to a culture thousands of years old," Meloni said.

"Clearly the best way to celebrate these two anniversaries and maintain the channel introduced precisely 700 years ago by Marco Polo is to foster economic, trade, cultural and scientific relations, and also to open dialogue at the multilateral level in a very complex time like the one in which we live," she added.

President Xi echoed Meloni's comments, harkening back to their countries' historical ties along the Silk Road — the network of Eurasian trade routes which connected the eastern and western worlds.

"China and Italy should uphold the long-standing spirit of the Silk Road, view and develop bilateral relations from a historical, strategic, and long-term perspective, and promote the international community to seek common ground and expand consensus," he said.

"At present, the world's century-long changes are accelerating, and all countries will advance together if they are connected and united, while each will retreat if they are closed and divided," he added.

Meloni pulled Italy out of China's Belt and Road Initiative — sometimes referred to as the "New Silk Road" — in December, but signed an agreement that provides a new path for the two countries to cooperate on trade and other issues.