Giorgia Meloni
ROME, July 23 (Portal) Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who will visit the White House on Thursday, said US President Joe Biden never asked her about Rome’s participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Meloni leads the only major Western country to join China’s BRI program, which envisages rebuilding the ancient Silk Road to connect China to Asia, Europe and beyond through major infrastructure investments.
“The President of the United States has never raised the issue directly with me,” she said at a news conference after an international meeting on migration in Rome.
The agreement was signed in 2019 during Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s tenure, drawing criticism in Washington and Brussels. It is highly unlikely that Italy will extend it when it expires early next year.
The deal has brought little benefit to Italy over the past four years: exports to China totaled 16.4 billion euros ($18.1 billion) last year, compared with 13 billion euros in 2019.
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