CHINA-LEADERSHIP: CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING AND PREMIER LI QIANG MET ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER GEORGIA MELONI AS SHE BEGAN 5- DAY VISIT TO CHINA TO RESET RELATIONS
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Diaoyutai State
Guesthouse on July 29 at the start of her 5-day visit to China. After talks with President Xi
Jinping at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Ms Meloni said: "There is growing insecurity
at an international level and I think that China is inevitably a very important interlocutor to
address all these dynamics". She said the two nations must "think together" to remain stable
and guarantee peace. Chinese President Xi Jinping, in turn, hailed the "long-established
friendly" ties, as well as "tolerance, mutual trust and mutual respect" between Beijing and
Rome. Earlier on Sunday July 28, Ms Meloni and Chinese Premier Li Qiang met and signed a
three-year "Action Plan between the People's Republic of China and the Italian Republic on
Strengthening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2024-2027)".
Separately, Euronews (July 29) reported that Italy and China signed a 3-yr plan as Meloni tries
to reset relations, Stellantis, a major automaker that inc. Italy’s Fiat, formed a joint venture
with Leapmotor, a Chinese electric car startup, in May to begin selling EVs in Europe.
(Comment: Rome has also supported a recent move by the European Commission to impose
tariffs of as much as 37.6% on electric vehicles imported from China. Two-way trade between
two countries reached 66.8 billion euros (£56.3bn) last year, making China Italy's largest non-
EU trading partner after the US.)
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