According to various sources, Italy has made a decision to officially withdraw from the "Belt and Road" initiative. Italy's "Corriere della Sera" also confirmed the news on December 6, local time, and said that Italy had informed China through diplomatic channels three days in advance. However, the newspaper also pointed out that Italy's withdrawal from the "Belt and Road" does not mean that relations with China are going to break down, and Italy will continue to work hard to maintain and strengthen the strategic partnership with China that has existed for more than 10 years.
In fact, most people wouldn't be surprised by Italy's choice. After all, since Italian Prime Minister Meloni took office last year, there have been reports that he will withdraw from the "Belt and Road", and since then, the Italian side has found various reasons to prove that the relevant agreement has not brought real benefits to Italy. to make plausible foreshadowing for their exit. However, for us, Italy's accession and withdrawal will not have much impact on the overall development of the Belt and Road Initiative. Today, more than 150 countries around the world have joined the Belt and Road Initiative, and the third Belt and Road Summit Forum held in Beijing this year has also been highly praised and recognized by the international community. All this shows that China's "Belt and Road" initiative has broad prospects and great achievements.
The only regrettable thing is that looking back on Italy's experience and practices in the "Belt and Road" in the past four years, it is inevitable that people will sigh. In 2019, Italy withstood pressure from the United States and became the first and so far only G7 country to join the initiative. Since then, Italy has received multiple development opportunities under the framework of the "Belt and Road" community, and between 2019 and 2021, Italy's exports to China** increased by 42%;In 2022, the scale of the two sides reached nearly 80 billion US dollars. And the good times did not last long, with Meloni's coming to power, after meeting Biden earlier this year, Italy's attitude towards the "Belt and Road" has become more and more negative. Italian Defense Minister Crosetto later claimed that Italy's participation in China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative was a "temporary and terrible decision".
Although Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tajani came to China in September and met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi for the purpose of maintaining bilateral relations, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a heartfelt manner that China and Italy, as representatives of ancient civilizations and important economies, should consolidate and deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership of mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual benefit and mutual learning, so as to enhance the well-being of the two peoples and inject more stability into the turbulent world. After that, the Chinese side also directly sent Liu Jianchao, director of the International Liaison Department of the CPC Central Committee, to Italy to collect their opinions through discussions with local business representatives, so as to prove the correctness of Italy's stay under the Belt and Road Initiative. However, Italy's current choice has somewhat missed the "Yangguan Road" pointed out by Foreign Minister Wang Yi and failed to live up to China's kind words and persuasions.
It must be pointed out that whether Italy left for reasons that could not profit from the "Belt and Road", or because of the influence of geopolitical factors, this is clear to Italy, and it is clear to many viewers. The attitude of the United States and the European Union has inevitably played a role in promoting this. Why is the West so jealous, the "Belt and Road"?After all, they are afraid that the interest system they have built will be damaged, and they do not understand why China wants to pull a large number of developing countries to develop the economy and create a better future. Under the self-interested thinking of the United States and the West, the great harmony of the world is a route that transcends their existing cognition, so they continue to block it, for fear that the developed countries in Europe will also be "assimilated". However, they do not know, or they are not willing to explore the answer behind this complacent, whether this complacency is good or bad for Italy's development, and whether it is good or bad for the development of the global economy.