Mattarella asks in Beijing "rebalancing and more investments"

“Deep friendship”. It is the feeling that China and Italy have in common, as explained by the Chinese prime minister Li Qiang and the president of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji who met the Head of State in the Hall of the People in Beijing Sergio Mattarella. The former defined Mattarella as “a statesman of great reputation and a long-standing friend of China” who “has always paid great attention” to relations between the two countries and “has made an important contribution to promoting the development of bilateral relations”. The second underlined the “strategic guidance” of the Head of State and China’s desire to “pass on the spirit of the Silk Road” and to inject “positive energy to help global stability”.

In the talks held this morning, the President of the Republic insisted above all on one theme: the need for a rebalancing of trade relations and for more investments by Beijing. Before the meetings he focused on yesterday’s face-to-face meeting with the Chinese president, Xi Jinpinga meeting in the spirit of “the usual spirit of friendship and full collaboration”. “Even on the economic level we saw yesterday with President Xi a desire to intensify collaboration in an intense manner – the first state official then recalled, addressing the Chinese prime minister -. We have an exchange that over the course of six years between 2106 and 2022 has substantially doubled from 38 billion to almost 74 billion in 2022. With two observations: the first which is still below the potential that comes from the commercial collaboration between China and Italy and therefore the desire to expand the trade flow and collaboration and the other need for a rebalancing in the development of trade relations between imports and exports between China and Italy as well as with regards to investments – underlined the Head of State -. we care very much about Chinese investments in Italy and we encourage Italian investments in China which have grown quite quickly. They have reached 15 billion in 2023 and we hope that Chinese investments can also grow in Italy as quickly as Italian ones and these too are. below potential possible”.

“China is ready to work with Italy to carry forward traditional friendship, strengthen all-round mutually beneficial cooperation, and steadily promote the raising of the comprehensive strategic partnership to new levels,” said the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Qiang. Even in the talks with the president of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji, the President of the Republic Mattarella recalled yesterday’s meeting with Xi, “we faced many problems, on each of which we found full harmony and a convergence of evaluation that It is proof of the growth of friendship and collaboration both bilaterally and in relations between China and the European Union.”

Mattarella returned to remembering the figures of Marco Polo and Matteo Ricci. “The ancient relationship between China and Italy today finds – he remarked – a current, full, collaborative declination, both on a political level, in the international vision regarding the desire for peace, multilateralism, collaboration, openness in economic relations, both on a cultural level, in the very intense collaboration that exists in our countries. This is why this visit is very important for me”. The Head of State then laid a wreath at the Monument of the People’s Heroes and in the afternoon he will hold a lectio magistralis at the University of Beida.