Italy has formally notified China of its withdrawal from Beijing’s ambitious belt and road infrastructure initiative (BRI), a significant trade and infrastructure project, according to two government sources.
The decision, which had been expected for some time, was reportedly communicated to Beijing three days ago, although no official communication has been released by either side.
The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has long been critical of the project and had expressed her intention to withdraw from the deal, seen by many as an effort by China to buy political influence but having limited benefits for Italy.
Italy became the only G7 nation to join the initiative in 2019, irking its EU and US allies. Its agreement is set to expire in March 2024.
“It’s now time for a more effective relationship between Italy and China,” said the then prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, in March 2019. During a visit to Rome, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, was treated like royalty, and the two countries struck commercial deals in a variety of areas, including tourism, food and football.
The BRI scheme envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe and beyond with vast amounts of infrastructure spending on roads and shipping routes. However, critics see it as a tool for China to spread its geopolitical and economic influence – a state-backed campaign for global dominance.
China spent $240bn (£195bn) bailing out countries struggling under their BRI debts between 2008 and 2021, data showed in March this year.
More than 100 countries have signed agreements with China to cooperate on BRI infrastructure and building projects since the scheme was launched in 2013.
Last July, in an interview with Corriere della Sera, Italy’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto, said joining China’s BRI had been a poor decision. “The decision to join the [new] Silk Road was an improvised and atrocious act” that boosted China’s exports to Italy but did not have the same effect on Italian exports to China, he said.
“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 also voiced concerns about Beijing’s “increasingly assertive attitudes”, its ambition to have the largest military presence in the world and its ambitions to expand, particularly in Africa. “They don’t hide their goals. They make them explicit,” he said.
Meloni, who heads Italy’s most rightwing government since the second world war, has been keen to burnish her credentials as a committed pro-Nato leader.
After a White House meeting with the US president, Joe Biden, last summer, Meloni said her government had until December to make a decision on the BRI.
Italy formally exited the BRI with a letter delivered to Beijing a few days ago, the sources told the Ansa news agency. Rome was required to provide at least three months’ written notice to terminate the accord, thereby avoiding its automatic renewal.
Meloni’s office made no comment when asked about the move on Wednesday and there was no immediate comment from China either.
“We have every intention of maintaining excellent relations with China even if we are no longer part of the belt and road initiative,” a government source in Italy told Reuters. “Other G7 nations have closer relations with China than we do, despite the fact they were never in [the BRI].”
Italy will assume the presidency of the G7 in 2024.
Looking to maintain strategic ties, the Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, visited Beijing in September and Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, is due to visit China at some stage next year.
Meloni herself has said she wants to go to Beijing, but no date has been fixed.