After months of uncertainty regarding involvement in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Giorgia Meloni-led government in Italy has officially withdrawn from the ambitious project, four years after signing the pact, news agencies reported on Wednesday.

In 2019, Italy became the first and thus far the only major Western nation to participate in the trade and investment program. This decision was made despite cautionary advisories from the United States, which expressed concerns that Italy's involvement might potentially allow China to gain influence over critical technologies and essential infrastructure.

Italy communicated the long-anticipated decision to Beijing three days ago, according to agency reports.

The agreement with China was set to automatically extend when it expired in March 2024, unless Rome provided a formal notice of withdrawal at least three months in advance.

“We have every intention of maintaining excellent relations with China even if we are no longer part of the Belt and Road Initiative,” an Italian government source stated.

“Other G7 nations have closer relations with China than we do, despite the fact they were never in [the BRI],” he added.

Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in July this year that joining the BRI was an "improvised and atrocious" act by Italy.

"The decision to join the (new) Silk Road was an improvised and atrocious act that multiplied China's exports to Italy but did not have the same effect on Italian exports to China," Crosetto said.

Meloni had indicated to China at the G20 Summit in Delhi that they sought to withdraw from the agreement that is putting Italy's relations with the US to the test. As Bloomberg reported in September, Italy intends to pull out of Chinese President Xi Jinping's flagship initiative while continuing to pursue amicable relations with Beijing, as conveyed to her Chinese counterpart Li Qiang by the Italian prime minister.

The Belt and Road initiative aims to rebuild the old Silk Road trade routes, which connected China to Asia, Europe, and other regions by investing heavily in infrastructure. Critics view the plan as a tool for China to increase its economic and geopolitical influence, particularly by burdening less developed nations with unsustainable debt.

Since the program's launch in 2013, over 100 nations have signed agreements with China to collaborate on infrastructure and construction projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative. The then-Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte had high expectations for a trade bonanza when he signed up in 2019, but Chinese firms seemed to be the main beneficiaries.

Italian exports to China increased from 13 billion euros in 2019 to 16.4 billion euros ($17.7 billion) in 2018. In contrast, Italian statistics show that during the same period, Chinese exports to Italy increased from 31.7 billion to 57.5 billion. Though not a part of the BRI, Italy's principal economic partners in the eurozone, France and Germany, sold much more to China last year.

Image source: AFP