{"id":8884,"date":"2020-03-11T07:04:58","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T11:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=8884"},"modified":"2020-03-11T07:06:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T11:06:38","slug":"italys-joins-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-cnbc-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=8884","title":{"rendered":"Italy&#8217;s joins China&#8217;s Belt and Road Initiative &#8212; CNBC.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><strong>Is Italy playing with fire when it comes to China?<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><!--more-->Holly Ellyatt<br \/>\nCNN<\/p>\n<p>PUBLISHED WED, MAR 27 20193:05 AM | UPDATED THU, MAR 28 20192:42 AM EDT<\/p>\n<div id=\"RegularArticle-KeyPoints-4\" class=\"RenderKeyPoints-keyPoints\">\n<div class=\"RenderKeyPoints-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"RenderKeyPoints-header\">KEY POINTS<\/div>\n<div class=\"RenderKeyPoints-list\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<ul>\n<li>Italy is to be the first major European economy to join China\u2019s massive investment and infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)<\/li>\n<li>The move is likely to exacerbate tensions between Italy and its neighbors.<\/li>\n<li>French President Emmanuel Macron wants a coordinated, united approach to China.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"RegularArticle-ArticleBody-5\" class=\"ArticleBody-articleBody\" data-module=\"ArticleBody\">\n<div id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-105816430\" class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed hasBkg\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imagePlaceholder\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageContainer\" tabindex=\"-1\" role=\"button\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/105816430-1553670168730gettyimages-1132142191.jpeg?v=1562921376&amp;w=740&amp;h=416\" media=\"(min-width: 1340px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/105816430-1553670168730gettyimages-1132142191.jpeg?v=1562921376&amp;w=630&amp;h=354\" media=\"(min-width: 1020px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/105816430-1553670168730gettyimages-1132142191.jpeg?v=1562921376&amp;w=900&amp;h=506\" media=\"(min-width: 760px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/105816430-1553670168730gettyimages-1132142191.jpeg?v=1562921376&amp;w=678&amp;h=381\" alt=\"GP : China's President Xi Meets Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte 190712\" \/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbedCaption\">Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte meets Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign trade agreements on Belt and Road Initiative, on March 23, 2019 in Rome, Italy.\u00a0 (Antonio Masiello | Getty Images News | Getty Images)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Italy\u2019s decision to be the first major European economy to join China\u2019s massive investment and infrastructure project,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/advertorial\/2018\/02\/19\/what-will-the-belt-and-road-initiative-change.html\">the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)<\/a>, can only exacerbate tensions between Italy and its neighbors.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, President Xi Jinping and the Italian government\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2019\/03\/24\/italy-di-maio-first-g7-country-to-join-china-belt-and-road-initiative.html\">signed a non-binding agreement for Italy to join China\u2019s trade route<\/a>\u00a0and inked a total of 29 deals worth 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) across an array of sectors. Italy hopes the project will boost its sluggish economy but the deal raised more than just eyebrows in Europe and the U.S.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2019\/03\/25\/italy-joining-chinas-belt-and-road-project-is-unwise-former-pm.html\">with officials criticizing the move<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The BRI is something of a 21st century Silk Road with the sea and land route stretching from Asia, the Middle East, Africa and now into Europe \u2014 with Italy being the first Group of Seven (G-7) country to sign up to the global infrastructure and development project.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/eng.yidaiyilu.gov.cn\/qwyw\/rdxw\/83772.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The \u201cMemorandum of Understanding\u201d signed by China and Italy<\/a>\u00a0shows that they intend to work together to develop Italy\u2019s transport, logistics and port infrastructure, strengthen financial cooperation and expand \u201ctwo-way\u201d and \u201cunimpeded\u201d trade and investment.<\/p>\n<p>China sees the BRI as a way to efficiently and easily export more of its goods to lucrative markets; its critics see the initiative as a vanity project that increases indebtedness among its participating countries.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>They also complain that the BRI gives Chinese companies unfettered access to other markets and economies, but that its own is still largely closed to foreign investment.<\/p>\n<p>At the heart of concerns is that the BRI is seen as a way for China to spread its geopolitical influence \u2014 an acute concern for a Europe increasingly uncertain of its place in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Italy\u2019s anti-establishment coalition government has already clashed with Brussels over immigration and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2018\/12\/19\/italy-and-eu-reach-budget-deal.html\">its spending plans<\/a>. Its deal with China is likely to be another source of tension.<\/p>\n<p>Rory Green, a China and North Asia economist at TS Lombard, told CNBC Wednesday that the deal with Italy was \u201cfantastic\u201d for President Xi Jinping. \u201cIt\u2019s a really big coup for Xi Jinping and it will give him a foothold in the heart of Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn terms of Italian-EU relations, it\u2019s going to add more strain to their relationship. From the Italian perspective, it shows they are willing to turn to an outside backer and that could be used to show the EU, and France and Germany in particular, that they have other friends they are willing to turn to.\u201d He also noted that the deal was likely to accelerate \u201can ongoing shift\u201d in Europe\u2019s view of China as \u201ca strategic competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Italy\u2019s latest move is certainly seen by many as undermining Europe\u2019s attempt to withstand, or compete with, China\u2019s economic might. Italy\u2019s bilateral deal with China also came a day after French President Emmanuel Macron called for a coordinated European approach to the superpower.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s clear that this does undermine Europe\u2019s and the West\u2019s ability to stand up to China,\u201d Federico Santi, senior Europe analyst at Eurasia Group, told CNBC Tuesday. \u201cThis will be another source of friction between Italy and Europe which, ultimately, will be to the detriment of Italy itself,\u201d he added, although he noted that the terms of the agreement between Italy and China remained to be seen.<\/p>\n<p>Italy and China have played down concerns.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2019\/03\/24\/italy-di-maio-first-g7-country-to-join-china-belt-and-road-initiative.html\">Italy\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio told CNBC that the accord was \u201cnothing to worry about\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and Xi tried to assuage concerns in Europe too, saying on Tuesday during a visit to France that \u201ccooperation is bigger than competition between China and Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other EU leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron are keen for the EU to have a tougher approach to China and stress the need for reciprocal commercial ties. On Tuesday, Macron said while he wants the EU to deepen its ties with China, there must be\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2019\/03\/26\/ecbs-mersch-fortress-europe-is-not-coming-to-challenge-china-or-us.html\">a united European front when it comes to the superpower<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To emphasize this point, he invited German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for talks with Xi in Paris on Tuesday. There, Macron urged China to \u201crespect the unity of the European Union and the values it carries in the world.\u201d Juncker stressed that European companies should find \u201cthe same degree of openness in the China market as Chinese ones find in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Merkel, for her part, said that Europeans wanted to take part in the Belt and Road Initiative but that \u201cmust lead to a certain reciprocity, and we are still wrangling over that bit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Macron said in Brussels last week, \u201cthe time of European na\u00efvet\u00e9 is ended\u201d as he called for the EU to unite in its approach towards China: \u201cFor many years we had an uncoordinated approach and China took advantage of our divisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With Italy pursuing its own deal with China regardless of its neighbors\u2019 concerns, China could be able to make the most of those divisions again.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2019\/03\/27\/italys-joins-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative.html\">https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2019\/03\/27\/italys-joins-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is Italy playing with fire when it comes to China?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}