Italy becoms the first G7 country to join China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Saturday March 23,2019

Resisting pressure from Washington and Brussels, Italy on Saturday March 23,2019 became the first G7 country to join China's controversial Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Rome, endorsing the global infrastructure-building scheme.

From left) Chinese President Xi Jinping, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Italian Labour and Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the signing ceremony in Rome on Saturday.

 

Conte and Xi shook hands after 29 separate sections of the MoU were signed by members of both governments.

The MoU is non-binding. But by opening the door to greater Sino-Italian cooperation, it threatens to deepen rifts between Rome and its traditional allies and within Italy's fragmented coalition government. 

Luigi di Maio, Italy's minister for economic development and one of the country's two deputy prime ministers, told after the signing that Rome's goal was to "rebalance an imbalance" in Sino-Italian trade. 

"There is a lot of 'Made in China' coming into Italy and too little 'Made in Italy' that goes into China," Di Maio said, adding that Italy now hopes for "a substantial and gradual increase of exports" to "balance out the trade imbalances"

Announced in 2013 as an ambitious plan to build a "belt" of overland corridors and a "road" of maritime shipping lanes spanning Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, the BRI has evolved to encompass other regions, as well as digital infrastructure and even cultural exchanges.

Also known as "The New Silk Road", it promises to strengthen China's trade and investment links with the rest of the world and cement its position as a major global economic power.

BRI projects are financed by Chinese state-owned enterprises that offer participating countries inexpensive loans and credit