“Strengthen cooperation also with a view to rebalancing” and “support Italian companies” active in China starting from the fabric of small and medium-sized enterprises: Georgia Meloni chooses the economic capital of the Dragon, as well as the heart of the wider Italian business community, as the last stop of her mission (one of the longest since she has been in government) in the Asian country. In Shanghai the premier meets the secretary of the Chinese Communist Party of the municipal committee, Chen Jining considered a launch pad among politicians close to Xi Jinping. “We have broad common interests”, is the official’s statement during the bilateral meeting with the Italian Prime Minister. After the meeting, Meloni leaves again – always with her daughter Ginevra – headed to Paris to follow some phases of the Olympics. “Strengthening collaboration in key sectors such as industry, innovation, tourism and culture”, is the will shared by Meloni and Jining – reports Palazzo Chigi – during the face to face in the Grand Hall, a public building overlooking the Bund, the area along the left bank of the Huangpu River, “the golden mile” of the so-called Pearl of the Orient. A cosmopolitan district that is always ‘alive’. Banks and shopping centers bustle during the day. Walks along the river, cocktails, lights ‘shooting’ from the skyscraper towers, after sunset.
Right in the heart of the Chinese economy, the Prime Minister underlined one of the ‘mantras’ of her visit to China: “Strengthening cooperation” (not only commercial but also cultural and scientific) also with a view to “rebalancing” relations and “supporting” Italian companies active in the Asian country. “It seemed important to us – explains Meloni – to also have a discussion with the local authorities because here is the largest Italian business community, several companies are represented”. The Prime Minister recalls the twinning between Shanghai and Milan dating back to 1979 (one of the first in the People’s Republic of China with a European city) and “we clearly hope that the authorities can help us to do this implementation work”, she notes.
The numbers of entrepreneurial Italy are well known to the local secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. “In Shanghai – Jining recalls – there are almost 1,200 Italian companies. The Shanghai-Italy trade represents almost 20 percent of the total trade between China and Italy. It is also a main channel for importing goods from Italy”, therefore “we want to give – he concludes – a further contribution to the cooperation” between Italy and China. The visit to Shanghai thus concludes Meloni’s five-day stay in China. The curtain opened last Saturday with the Prime Minister who got off the state plane that landed in Beijing, hand in hand with her daughter Ginevra. Then the welcome, the following day, in the Great Hall of the People between the flawless picket of the soldiers of the People’s Army and the frescoes of the Great Wall. During the bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Li Qiangthe Italy-China Three-Year Action Plan was signed. A document to relaunch relations between the two countries after Italy’s exit from the Silk Road. At the Diaoyutai State House in Beijing, on Monday, the central moment of the mission: the long meeting – over 90 minutes – with President Xi Jinping.