Italy has told China it is exiting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which is another blow to Beijing’s plans to expand the investment program.

Back in 2019, Italy became the first and only major Western nation to join the initiative, disregarding warnings from the US that it may result in China controlling sensitive technologies and essential infrastructure.

Yet when Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took office in 2022, she announced she wanted to leave the deal as it had brought no considerable gains to Italy, Reuters reports.

The 2019 agreement expires in March next year, and according to an Italian government source, Rome had sent Beijing a letter “in recent days” telling China it would not be renewing the deal.

“We have every intention of maintaining excellent relations with China even if we are no longer part of the Belt and Road Initiative,” according to a second government source.

“Other G7 nations have closer relations with China than we do, despite the fact they were never in (the BRI),” he went on to add.

Over 100 countries have signed agreements with China to cooperate on BRI infrastructure and construction projects since the launch of the initiative in 2013.

Moreover, Italian exports to China reached €16.4 billion in 2022 from €13 billion in 2019. In contrast, Chinese exports to Italy increased to 57.5 billion from 31.7 billion over the same period, as per Italian data.

Italy’s principal eurozone trading partners, France and Germany, made considerably more exports to China in 2022 despite not being part of the BRI.

Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, visited Beijing in September in a bid to maintain strategic ties, whilst President Sergio Mattarella is scheduled to visit China next year.

Meloni has stated she wishes to visit Beijing, but as of yet, no fixed date has been announced.