Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni kicked off her five-day visit to China on Saturday, with multiple business participants as well as observers of the two countries expressing their high expectations for the visit, highlighting the importance of enhancing bilateral cooperation, especially in areas such as new energy products, new energy vehicles and other green technologies.
This marks Meloni’s first visit to China since she took office, and she is the first European leader to visit China since the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China concluded.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang held a welcome ceremony for Meloni on Sunday afternoon at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China Central Television reported, and the two sides held talks after the welcome ceremony.
The two sides also witnessed the signing of multiple bilateral cooperation documents covering industry, education and environmental protection.
Amid a volatile political landscape in Europe and the US, Meloni’s visit serves a good opportunity to inject stability, promote cooperation and resolve differences, not only between China and Italy, but China and Europe as a whole, experts said.
However, the experts caution that the Italian government needs to demonstrate enough sincerity in cooperating with China after Italy’s withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and effectively manage differences, particularly in tariff talks on China-made electric vehicles (EVs).
Experts noted that during this trip, Meloni aims to enhance Italy’s cooperation with China and clear away misunderstandings over its withdrawal from the BRI last year.
