Meloni meets Xi as Italy vows to 'relaunch' ties with China

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said China is an "important interlocutor" in managing global tensions, as she met President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

President Xi in turn hailed the "long-established friendly" ties, as well as "tolerance, mutual trust and mutual respect" between Beijing and Rome.

During her first trip to China since taking office, Ms Meloni and Chinese Premier Li Qiang met on Sunday and signed a three-year plan to strengthen economic co-operation.

The five-day visit comes after Ms Meloni last year removed her country from President Xi Jinping's signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

At the time, Rome said the massive Chinese investment scheme aimed at promoting bilateral trade.

Ms Meloni said her visit to China was an effort to "relaunch" the relationship.

After talks with President Xi at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Ms Meloni said: "There is growing insecurity at an international level and I think that China is inevitably a very important interlocutor to address all these dynamics".

She said the two nations must "think together" to remain stable and guarantee peace.

Italy was the only major Western nation to sign up to the BRI, one of China's most ambitious trade and infrastructure projects.

The move was heavily criticised at the time by the US and some other major Western countries.

Since coming to office in 2022, Ms Meloni has sought to lead a more pro-Western and pro-Nato foreign policy than her predecessors.

Before withdrawing from the BRI, Ms Meloni had described the former government's decision to join it as "a serious mistake".

"Every country which is a [BRI] member knows that China is first and they are second and I don't think Italy as a G7 member wanted to be grouped together with Russia, Pakistan or Sri Lanka," said Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for the Asia Pacific region at investment bank Natixis.

"Without BRI [membership] Meloni is coming to China at a different level of engagement - less as a vassal and more as a partner," she added.

Under Ms Meloni, Italy has moved to block a Chinese state-owned company from taking control of tyre making giant Pirelli.

Rome has also supported a recent move by the European Commission to impose tariffs of as much as 37.6% on electric vehicles imported from China.

Two-way trade between two countries reached 66.8 billion euros (£56.3bn) last year, making China Italy's largest non-EU trading partner after the US.