Minister Tajani meets Li Xi, member of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party

The Vice President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Antonio Tajani, met on October 31st at Ministry of Foreign Affairs Li Xi, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China.

At the center of the talks was Strengthening economic cooperation with particular attention to the growth and rebalancing of trade, to the agri-food sector and to the theme of investments. “I reiterated my willingness to work together to ensure a level playing field for our companies, in particular for SMEs and companies in the agri-food sector,” declared the Minister Tajani: “China is an important economic partner, with which we want to strengthen a historic relationship of friendship, also basing it on economic rebalancing”.

The meeting also offered the opportunity to discuss the main international current affairs issues, with particular reference to conflict in Ukraine“We count on the role and decisive weight of China to reach a fair and negotiated solution in Ukraine,” the Minister said. Tajani He stressed that “Beijing's influence can also be important in deterring North Korea from destabilizing initiatives for regional and global security,” including the influx of North Korean troops into Russia in support of aggression against Ukraine.

The meeting is part of the new impetus given to relations between Italy and China, with the shared objective of Strengthen and update the Global Strategic Partnership, which has been the reference framework for the development of bilateral relations since 2004. “After Prime Minister Meloni's mission to Beijing, in the coming days I will be accompanying the President of the Republic Mattarella on his state visit to China, which will confirm at the highest level the new trajectory of bilateral relations”, concluded the Minister, recall that one of the privileged channels of the Italy-China relationship is that of cultural exchanges and collaboration.