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#Italy's government has split over whether to sign onto #China’s landmark ' #OneBeltOneRoad' infrastructure program that runs across #Asia to key European trade hubs. Some 13 #EU countries have signed up to China's new Silk Road plan, but Washington and Brussels are deeply concerned that the involvement of #G7 heavyweight Rome could lend greater credibility to a project that they view as a strategic threat.

Prime Minister #GiuseppeConte and #LuigiDiMaio of the 5Star Movement, one of two deputy prime ministers, said a proposed agreement with Beijing - which would not amount to an international treaty - would not undermine Italy's alliances with the U.S. and the EU. The Italian and Chinese governments are also in the process of negotiating 31 additional MoUs, 16 of which would be signed by the Chinese government and 15 involving businesses. Each MoU spells out details of the framework in each area of cooperation.


#GlobalEconomy #Economy #Geopolitics #Diplomacy #Politics #ForeignPolicy #InternationalRelations #ForeignRelations #EconomicRelations #EconomicCooperation #EuropeanEconomy #EuropeanUnion #Eurozone #BeltandRoad #ItalianEconomy
#SilkRoad opens a rift in Italy’s government
https://www.politico.eu/article/italy-comes-to-silk-road-juncture-with-chinese-mou/
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#Italy’s drive to be the first #G7 industrialized nation to join the ambitious venture has angered Washington and alarmed Brussels, raising fears of a sellout of sensitive technologies and the handover of critical infrastructure. With ports that offer easy gateways into #Europe’s richest markets, Italy is a promising and prestigious prize for #China. In return for its endorsement, Italy’s government hopes for a boost in exports and investment that will lift its anemic #economy out of its third recession in a decade.

Deputy Prime Minister #LuigiDiMaio's China Task Force is led by junior industry minister #MicheleGeraci, who lived in China for 10 years before entering government in 2018. Geraci speaks Chinese and fervently backs closer ties with Beijing, saying Italy has fallen behind its partners. According to Eurostat, #Germany exported 93.8bn euros ($106bn) of goods to China in 2018, with #Britain next on the list exporting 23.4bn euros, #France third with 20.8bn euros and Italy fourth on 13.17bn euros.


#GlobalEconomy #Economy #Geopolitics #Diplomacy #Politics #ForeignPolicy #InternationalRelations #ForeignRelations #EconomicRelations #EconomicCooperation #EuropeanEconomy #EuropeanUnion #Eurozone #ItalianEconomy
Italy's drive to join China's #BeltandRoad hits potholes
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-china-analysis/italys-drive-to-join-chinas-belt-and-road-hits-potholes-idUSKCN1QW1E2
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Italian Foreign Minister #EnzoMoavero on Thursday (Mar 14) defended the commercial accords Italy is poised to sign with #China as part of its ' #BeltandRoad' initiative and said they had the backing of President #SergioMattarella. The #UnitedStates, which fears China's growing international clout and penetration into strategic areas such as telecommunications, has raised concerns about allies' participation in the Belt and Road scheme. The #EuropeanUnion is meanwhile wary of Chinese takeovers in critical sectors.

Italian Prime Minister #GiuseppeConte has said he may sign a series of MOUs on Belt and Road infrastructure investments when Chinese President #XiJinping visits Rome and Palermo later this month. That would make Italy the first #G7 major industrialized nation to sign up for the initiative, which aims to create an infrastructure network like the old Silk Road linking China with Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.


#GlobalEconomy #Economy #Geopolitics #Diplomacy #Politics #ForeignPolicy #InternationalRelations #ForeignRelations #EconomicRelations #EconomicCooperation #EuropeanUnion #EuropeanEconomy #ItalianEconomy #Eurozone
#Italy's foreign minister defends MOU agreements with China
https://www.investing.com/news/economy-news/italys-foreign-minister-defends-mou-agreements-with-china-1807594
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#China’s ' #BeltandRoad' infrastructure plan could be good news for #Italy, Prime Minister #GiuseppeConte said on Friday (Mar 8), confirming that he might sign an accord with Chinese President #XiJinping later this month. Xi is due to travel to Italy from March 22-24 and Conte said Rome and Beijing were looking to agree to a framework deal during the state visit, despite reports that the United States is concerned at the prospect of a key ally joining the venture.

A number of #EuropeanUnion states have signed #BRI MOUs with China, including #Croatia, #CzechRepublic, #Hungary, #Greece, #Malta, #Poland and #Portugal. If Italy signs, it would be the first Group of Seven major industrialized nation to do so.


#GlobalEconomy #Economy #Geopolitics #Diplomacy #Politics #ForeignPolicy #InternationalRelations #ForeignRelations #EconomicRelations #EconomicCooperation #EuropeanUnion #EuropeanEconomy #ItalianEconomy #Eurozone
China's Belt and Road plan could be good for Italy: Italian PM
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-italy-belt-and-road/chinas-belt-and-road-plan-could-be-good-for-italy-italian-pm-idUSKCN1QP20X
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Italian Prime Minister #GiuseppeConte has overruled the foreign ministry and joined right-wing Eurosceptics in his coalition cabinet in calling for closer cooperation with #China’s ' #BeltandRoadInitiative'. In a move that Washington warned would damage Italy’s standing with its neighbours, the Conte government is understood to be planning to give Chinese companies greater access to the port of Trieste - one of the region’s busiest, with access to the Mediterranean - as well as further cooperation between the leading electricity providers of both countries.

Chinese President #XiJinping is expected to visit Italy from March 22-24, during which time Rome and Beijing would look to agree a framework deal. The Italian leader’s plan to attend a belt and road summit in Beijing in April caused waves in Brussels and Washington, as Italy was on course to become the first country among the #G7 - and the first founding European Union member - to sign up to China’s trade initiative that the US and EU have characterised as a debt trap or a neocolonial project.


#GlobalEconomy #Economy #Geopolitics #Diplomacy #Politics #ForeignPolicy #InternationalRelations #ForeignRelations #EconomicRelations #EconomicCooperation #EuropeanUnion #EuropeanEconomy #ItalianEconomy #Eurozone
Italian PM Giuseppe Conte ignores US warnings and pushes for closer cooperation with China’s belt and road plan
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2189510/italian-pm-conte-ignores-us-warnings-and-pushes-closer
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The #BeltandRoadInitiative (BRI) has received more and more support from the international community and meets the needs of world development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang told a regular briefing on Monday (Mar 11), adding #China welcomes Italy's active participation in the #BRI. #Italy has planned to sign a memorandum of understanding to become part of the BRI, the first #G7 country to formally endorse it. Last Friday, Italian Prime Minister #GiuseppeConte said he is willing to attend the second #BeltandRoadForum for International Cooperation (BRF) in late April in Beijing.


#GlobalEconomy #Economy #Geopolitics #Diplomacy #Politics #ForeignPolicy #InternationalRelations #ForeignRelations #EconomicRelations #EconomicCooperation #EuropeanUnion #EuropeanEconomy #ItalianEconomy #Eurozone
China welcomes Italy's participation in BRI: foreign ministry
https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d674e33636a4d33457a6333566d54/index.html
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#Italy's Prime Minister #GiuseppeConte is set to sign a memorandum of understanding in the view of participating in Beijing's #BeltandRoadInitiative (BRI), a scheme which will invite large scale infrastructure investments into his country. When faced with questions about Washington's negative response to this news, he dismissed them by noting 'it won't mean that the next day we will be forced to do anything. It will allow us to enter into this project and have a dialogue' and vowed to continue 'strategic dialogue' with the #UnitedStates.

With Rome suffering from a long term #economiccrisis and decline, it recognizes that by positioning itself as a new hub for commerce heading up through the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and through the Mediterranean, it has a golden opportunity to transform itself. Italy is a country that has seen better days, far better days. It has never recovered from the aftermath of the #Eurozone financial crisis which has taken a deep and agonizing toll on its economy. #GDP is over $400m less than what it was at its height in 2008, and in late 2018 the country officially entered #recession again.


#GlobalEconomy #Economy #Geopolitics #Diplomacy #Politics #ForeignPolicy #InternationalRelations #ForeignRelations #EconomicRelations #EconomicCooperation #EuropeanUnion #EuropeanEconomy #ItalianEconomy #Eurozone #China
Why Italy is signing up for #BRI and Washington is fuming
https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d674e32516a4d33457a6333566d54/index.html
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The Italian government is reportedly on the verge of endorsing #China's #BeltandRoadInitiative (BRI), the cornerstone policy of President #XiJinping. #Italy would be the first member of the #G7 group of advanced economies to officially back the initiative. Other smaller European member states such as #Greece and #Portugal have embraced various Chinese initiatives, as have some southeastern European #EU pretenders such as #Serbia. But with Rome's belligerent government thumbing its nose at EU budget rules, any such move would signal a serious shift in the core EU member states.

#Germany has for some time accused Beijing of interfering in the EU, in particular in Greece and #Hungary, and in the West Balkans. The bloc is pushing for a European investment screening process to better control foreign investment in strategic areas. Italy formed a China Task Force last October to explore economic opportunities in China, including the possibility of endorsing the #BRI.


#GlobalEconomy #Economy #Geopolitics #Diplomacy #Politics #ForeignPolicy #InternationalRelations #ForeignRelations #EconomicRelations #EconomicCooperation #EuropeanUnion #EuropeanEconomy #ItalianEconomy #Eurozone
When in Rome do as the Chinese do
https://www.dw.com/en/when-in-rome-do-as-the-chinese-do/a-47812335
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Slowing trade is pushing down the outlook for export-driven #Germany and #Italy, according to the OECD. It cut its German forecast by more than half, now projecting 0.7% growth in #GDP this year. #Italy’s economy is on track for a 0.2% retraction in 2019. The euro area as a whole is therefore on a path to an economic expansion of just 1% of GDP for the year down from its previous projection of 1.8%.


#GlobalEconomy #EconomicOutlook #EconomicData #EconomicGrowth #EuropeanEconomy #EconomicForecast #GermanEconomy #ItalianEconomy #EuropeanUnion #GlobalSlowdown #EconomicSlowdown #Economy
#Eurozoneeconomies face pressure to act as OECD cuts German, Italian forecast
https://www.politico.eu/article/eurozone-economies-face-pressure-to-act-as-oecd-cuts-german-italian-forecast/
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