Italia-China relations: Meloni in Beijing for triennial cooperation plan

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in Beijing yesterday afternoon accompanied by her daughter Ginevra. She had meetings with Premier Li and President Xi.

“I am very pleased to be here for the first official trip of this government, which was preceded by several high-level meetings, such as the bilateral with President Xi on the sidelines of the Bali G20,” said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. She expressed the intention to start a new phase and boost bilateral cooperation in the year marking the twentieth anniversary of the strategic global partnership between Italy and China. During the bilateral meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Meloni announced the signing of a triennial action plan to explore new forms of Italy-China cooperation, which will be signed today.

Meloni arrived in Beijing yesterday with her daughter Ginevra. She will also stop in Paris on Thursday to attend a volleyball match at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

“We certainly have a lot of work to do, and I am convinced that this work can be useful in such a complex global phase, and it can also be important at a multilateral level,” Meloni said.

“It is time to start a new phase, to relaunch our bilateral cooperation in the year of the twentieth anniversary of our strategic global partnership, but also in the year of another important anniversary: the 700 years since the death of Marco Polo, one of the greatest Italians and perhaps one of the most important figures because he facilitated the meeting and mutual understanding between East and West,” continued the Prime Minister, linking Polo’s anniversary to the signing of the triennial plan.

For the Prime Minister, it is indeed “meaningful in this year to relaunch with the action plan we will sign today, the triennial action plan, our margins of cooperation, working to implement what we have already achieved and also working to explore new forms of cooperation.”

“Italy and China are opening a new chapter,” said Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang. “The visit of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will give a strong boost to deepen the friendship and cooperation between the two countries. Together, we will contribute, with our respective goals, to the development of a comprehensive Sino-Italian relationship, bringing greater confidence to the peoples of the two countries and making greater efforts to promote global development.”