Italian PM Meloni to visit China
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will visit China for five days from Saturday, Beijing said. "At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang of the State Council, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will pay an official visit to China from July 27 to 31," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in a statement. The visit will be Meloni's first to China since she took office in 2022. She will meet with President Xi Jinping as well as Premier Li during the trip, Mao told a regular press briefing. They will "hold talks with her... to exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of common concern," she said. Beijing would "deepen practical cooperation and cultural exchange," Mao added, as well as "promote the steady and long-term development of China-Italy and China-Europe relations". Meloni's administration withdrew from the Belt and Road infrastructure initiative last year, but has since sought to mend ties with China, a key trading partner. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani visited Beijing last year, meeting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi who said cooperation with Italy had been "fruitful".  In April, Tajani said Rome intended to strengthen trade despite its withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative. "Our relations with China are positive, even if we are competitors and our positions diverge on certain issues," he told reporters. (AFP)