ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has produced few benefits, Rome’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday, as his country faces a decision on whether to pull out of the deal.
Italy in 2019 became the first and so far only G7 nation to have joined the hugely ambitious BRI scheme, which envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe and beyond with large infrastructure spending.
“We have not had many benefits from the (new) Silk Road, this is technically proven”, Tajani told RAI public television, adding his government was “reflecting” on whether staying in the scheme was in the national interest.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing administration has until the end of the year to make a call. In an interview last month, she said good relations with Beijing were possible even if her country exits.
Tajani, speaking days after the Rome government intervened to limit Chinese influence on tyremaker Pirelli, reiterated that Rome has “no hostility” towards China and wants to have “good relations”.
Ex-premier Giuseppe Conte, who took Italy in the BRI in 2019, hoped it would lift Rome’s underperforming economy, but it has not had a significant impact. Exports to China totalled 16.4 billion euros ($18.1 billion) last year from 13 billion euros in 2019.
By contrast, Chinese exports to Italy rose to 57.5 billion from 31.7 billion over the same period, according to Italian data.
(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, editing by Cynthia Osterman)
