Italy and China sign a 3-year action plan as Italian leader Meloni tries to reset relations

BEIJING (AP) — Italy and China signed a three-year action plan on Sunday to implement past agreements and experiment with new forms of cooperation, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on an official visit to the Chinese capital.

Meloni is trying to reset relations with China as fears of a trade war with the European Union are interwoven with continued interest in attracting Chinese investment in auto manufacturing and other sectors.

“We certainly have a lot of work to do and I am convinced that this work can be useful in such a complex phase on a global level, and also important at a multilateral level,” she said in remarks at the start of a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

Her five-day visit comes several months after Italy dropped out of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a signature policy of Chinese leader Xi Jinping to build power and transportation infrastructure around the world to stimulate global trade while also deepening China’s ties with other nations.

Italy’s decision to join in 2019 appeared to be a political coup for China, giving it an inroad into Western Europe and a symbolic boost in a then-raging trade war with the United States. But Italy says the promised economic benefits didn’t materialize, and its membership created friction with other Western European governments and the United States.

Still, Italy remains keen to pursue an otherwise strong economic relationship with China. Stellantis, a major automaker that includes Italy’s Fiat, announced in May that it had formed a joint venture with Leapmotor, a Chinese electric car startup, to begin selling EVs in Europe.

Electric vehicles have become a symbol of growing China-EU trade tensions, with the European Union imposing provisional tariffs of up to 37.6% on China-made electric vehicles in early July. The two sides are holding talks to try to resolve the issue by an early November deadline.

Meanwhile, China has launched an anti-dumping investigation into European pork exports, just days after the EU announced it would impose tariffs on Chinese EVs.

Meloni, who arrived in Beijing on Saturday, has held talks with Li before, meeting in New Delhi last September during the annual G-20 summit, which brings together the leaders of 20 major nations.

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Associated Press writer Giada Zampano in Rome contributed.