When Italy joined China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) four years ago, it made an "improvised and atrocious" decision that accomplished little to enhance exports, according to Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto in an interview published on Sunday, news agency Reuters reported. Italy was the only significant Western nation to join the BRI when it did so under a previous administration. Crosetto is a member of the administration that is thinking about how to leave the deal.
The BRI plan calls for significant infrastructure investment to restore the historic Silk Road, which connected China to Asia, Europe, and beyond. Critics claim that China is using it as a vehicle to expand its geopolitical and economic power.
Crosetto told the Corriere della Sera daily that "the decision to join the (new) Silk Road was an improvised and atrocious act" that increased China's exports to Italy but did not have the same effect on Italian exports to China.
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"The issue today is: how to walk back (from the BRI) without damaging relations (with Beijing). Because it is true that China is a competitor, but it is also a partner," the defence minister was quoted by Reuters in its report.
Following a meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that her government has until December to make a decision on the BRI, and she also stated that she will shortly fly to Beijing.
Meloni stated in an interview with the Italian news channel TG5 on Saturday that while Italy is a member of the BRI, it is not the G7 country with the strongest trade relations to China.
"This shows that you can have good relations and trading partnerships" even outside of the BRI, she added.