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A high-ranking Chinese Communist Party official has visited Italy amid media reports saying that the European nation is considering a withdrawal from Beijing’s Belt and Road economic zone initiative.
The Communist Party said Liu Jianchao, the head of the International Department of the party’s Central Committee, attended a meeting with businesspeople in Milan on Sunday.
Italy is the only Group of Seven country to have signed a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road initiative.
In the meeting, Liu hailed Italy’s signing of the memorandum, saying the country made the right decision, keeping in mind not only the current situation but also the future.
Liu also said the deal would make the two countries more confident in bilateral cooperation and set a good precedent for other countries to follow in building a global network of partnership.
The party said Italian business people expressed their resolute support for continued cooperation between the two countries.
Media in the US and elsewhere have reported that the government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who took office last year, is weighing a withdrawal from the Belt and Road initiative.
Liu’s visit to Milan came amid growing wariness of China among EU countries. The trip was seen as an attempt by Beijing to keep Italy in the initiative.
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