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Italy has formally informed Beijing of its decision to end its participation in President Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative, a senior Italian government official told the Financial Times on Wednesday.
Rome dismayed its western allies, particularly Washington, in 2019, when it decided to sign up to the ambitious, Chinese-led trade and investment scheme, and was the only member of the G7 to do so.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has described the decision by a previous populist government as a “mistake’ and said earlier this year that she was reconsidering Italy’s participation in the scheme. Italy had to formally notify China of its intent to withdraw by the end of this year, or else it would have been automatically renewed as a participant for the next five years. The decision ends months of speculation.