Italy to withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative

According to news reports, Italy is to withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration is said to have notified Beijing that it would cease participating in the BRI ahead of a deadline at the year’s end.

Italy became the only major Western nation and member of the G7 to sign up to the BRI when it did so in 2019.

Watch a video highlighting the last ten years of China’s BRI, which has been called the world’s most ambitious infrastructure scheme.

The formal decision comes months after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – who in the past had called Rome’s participation in the BRI a “mistake” – publicly confirmed that her government was considering a pullout.

The country’s BRI membership was due to renew automatically in March next year unless Italy notified China that it was withdrawing by the end of this year.

Since coming to office, Meloni has sought to lead a more pro-Western foreign policy than her predecessors. The decision comes ahead of an upcoming summit between EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese President Mr Xi.