Xi Jinping and Meloni Promote Silk Road Spirit and Strengthen Bilateral Ties
Beijing, The Gulf Observer: Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, calling on both nations to carry forward the Silk Road spirit and enhance bilateral relations.
“The Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, and mutual benefit is a shared treasure of China and Italy,” President Xi remarked. He emphasized the importance of upholding and promoting this spirit, viewing and developing bilateral relations from a historical perspective, strategic height, and long-term outlook to ensure steady and far-reaching progress.
President Xi highlighted the significant contributions of the time-honored friendly exchanges between China and Italy to the overall exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations, and to the progress of humanity. Amid accelerating global changes unseen in a century, he stressed the importance of progressing together through connectivity and unity rather than retreating through closure and division.
Prime Minister Meloni expressed Italy’s willingness to carry forward the Silk Road spirit and develop a closer and higher-level partnership with China. She emphasized Italy’s commitment to opening a new chapter in the Italy-China comprehensive strategic partnership and making new contributions to world peace and progress. Meloni acknowledged China’s irreplaceable role in addressing global challenges and reiterated Italy’s respect for China’s international status and role.
Pledges for Enhanced Cooperation
During their meeting, President Xi stated that China and Italy have complementary industrial advantages and present mutual opportunities. He called for both nations to remain open to each other and improve cooperation. China is ready to work with Italy to upgrade traditional cooperation in trade, investment, industrial manufacturing, science and technology innovation, and third-party markets. Additionally, Xi proposed exploring cooperation in emerging fields such as electric vehicles (EVs) and artificial intelligence (AI).
Xi emphasized that in the era of economic globalization, adhering to openness and cooperation in global industrial and supply chains is the only way to achieve win-win development. He reiterated China’s commitment to peaceful development, rejecting hegemony, and expressed China’s willingness to share development opportunities with all countries. Xi also expressed hope that Italy would understand and support China’s development philosophy and play a constructive role in advancing dialogue and cooperation between China and the European Union (EU).
Prime Minister Meloni affirmed Italy’s commitment to the one-China policy and expressed a strong desire to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with China. She highlighted Italy’s interest in deepening bilateral cooperation in economy, trade, investment, EVs, AI, and other sectors. Meloni also emphasized the importance of closer people-to-people exchanges and promoting the entry of more Italian products into the Chinese market. She opposed “de-coupling” in global supply chains and protectionism, and voiced Italy’s willingness to play an active role in promoting deeper and more practical relations between the EU and China.
Joint Action Plan
China and Italy issued a joint action plan on Monday to deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership between 2024 and 2027. This plan aims to further enhance cooperation and mutual benefit in various sectors, reinforcing the longstanding and fruitful relationship between the two nations.
