(Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni trumpeted China’s potential for helping bring an end to Russia’s grinding war in Ukraine, as she sought to forge closer ties with the world’s No. 2 economy.
While Meloni said Beijing’s backing of the Russian industrial complex was an area of “great friction,” she cited President Xi Jinping’s government as an important stakeholder in finding a solution to the conflict at press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.
“I believe China can become, starting from the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that it always appeals to, a key player in helping identify the elements of a just peace,” Meloni said of the war in Ukraine, during her first official visit to the Asian nation since coming to power in 2022.
The Italian leader’s charm offensive in China comes just months after her abandonment of Xi’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative threatened to derail bilateral ties. Her diplomatic balancing act in China is complicated by the European Union’s tougher stance toward Beijing on trade, and criticisms Beijing is sending Moscow dual-use items that are boosting the Kremlin’s battlefield efforts.
The Italian delegation had been nervous about how Meloni’s visit would play out in the wake of Rome’s snub, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private issues. It wasn’t a given she would sit down with Xi as they hold different positions, with the Chinese leader being head of state, and Meloni head of government, the person added.
Meloni characterized her meeting on Monday with Xi as “frank and respectful,” and announced that prime ministers from both nations would hold yearly meetings to maintain communication. She also signed a three-year action plan to relaunch cooperation with China.
“Meloni has showed pragmatism through her visit, focusing on bilateral ties with more concrete pledges,” said Wang Yiwei, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing. “The three-year action plan has locked in new investments — this is a new model.”
Chinese state media heaped praise on Meloni, with the China Daily dismissing Rome’s exit from the BRI as the result of “external pressure,” taking a swipe at the US. The Communist Party-run Global Times commended the far-right leader for making Italy “a bridge for East-West exchanges” and cited “deepened political mutual trust” in a Tuesday editorial, as the two sides vowed cooperation in artificial intelligence and electric vehicles.
Those are sensitive trade areas. US President Joe Biden has sought to kneecap Beijing’s access to the cutting-edge chips needed for advanced AI and announced a new 100% tariff on Chinese-made EVs. Europe has moved closer to Washington’s stance, launching a litany of trade probes on Beijing and tentatively raising rates on electric cars from China to as high as 48%.
Xi has strong ties with Hungary’s Viktor Orban, but relations with other leaders in the EU bloc have frayed amid spats over a surge in cheap Chinese exports that threaten jobs overseas, and the Chinese leader’s “no-limits” friendship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
While Xi is a rare world leader with open communication lines to both sides of the war, his economic and diplomatic support for Moscow have cast a long shadow over Beijing’s claims of neutrality. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization earlier this month criticized China as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war.
Meloni has sought to pitch herself as a diplomat able to speak to leaders across the ideological spectrum, from Orban to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Her ambitions have grown to include Xi in that group, Bloomberg reported before her trip, citing people familiar with her thinking.
The Italian leader’s visit to China comes as Europe braces for a US presidential election in November that could herald a major shift in Washington’s foreign and trade policy. Republican candidate Donald Trump has vowed to end the war in Ukraine “within 24 hours” if he wins, while his vice presidential candidate, JD Vance, has been critical of support to Kyiv.
China has tried to position itself as a more powerful player in that environment, last week hosting the first senior Ukrainian official to the Asian country since Putin’s invasion in 2022. Days later, Beijing dispatched a special envoy to Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia to “build up conditions to resume peace talks.”
--With assistance from Jing Li and Josh Xiao.
(Updates with expert commentary in seventh paragraph.)
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
