'Improvised and atrocious': Italy looks to leave China deal, reversing decision of previous government

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Human traffickers are becoming more powerful: Italian PM Meloni

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni discusses Italy’s relations with China and the conservative movement’s growing influence in Europe.

Italy will pull out of the controversial Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in an interview Sunday.

"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," Crosetto said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper, according to a report from Reuters.

Crosetto's comments come after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's visit with President Biden in Washington, D.C., last week, where the Italian leader said her government was still considering its options when it came to the deal with China.

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China's President Xi Jinping applauds during a signing ceremony of partnership agreements following a meeting with Italy's prime minister at Villa Madama in Rome on March 23, 2019 as part of a two-day visit to Italy.  (ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

"We'll take a decision before December," Meloni later told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo in an exclusive interview.

Italy was the only major Western country to join the agreement with China, a massive infrastructure spending project China envisions would result in a new Silk Road that can connect China with the rest of Asian and Europe, earning scorn from some European Union leaders and Washington at the time. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP)

But the decision to join the initiative was made under the country's previous leadership, something Crosetto said was an "improvised and atrocious act."

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni delivers a speech during a two-day "General States of Birth" conference in Rome on May 12, 2023. (FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images)

Critics of Italy joining the deal have argued it has done little to benefit the country's economy, Politico reported Sunday, noting that the pact did not improve Italy's trade deficit with China. Since the agreement was signed in 2019, Chinese exports to Italy increased 51%, while Chinese imports of Italian goods only increased by 26%, the report noted, citing the country's Trade Agency.

Crosetto's comments somewhat echoed those of Meloni's from earlier this year, when she expressed optimism that Italy's relationship with China could be strong without her country's participation in the initiative.

 Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto called the previous government's decision to join the BRI as an "improvised and atrocious act." (Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)

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"Italy is the only G-7 member that signed up to the accession memorandum to the Silk Road, but it is not the European or Western country with the strongest economic relations and trade flows with China," Meloni said in May, according to Politico. "This means that it is possible to have good relations with Beijing, also in important domains, without them necessarily being part of an overall strategic plan."

Reuters contributed to this report.