China touts the benefits of its ‘Belt and Road’ initiative to Italy, which may end the agreement

BEIJING (AP) — China’s foreign minister is seeking to sell his Italian counterpart on the benefits of leader Xi Jinping’s signature “Belt and Road” initiative of Chinese-built and -funded infrastructure projects, as Rome considers whether to renew the agreement. Wang Yi told Antonio Tajani in their meeting Monday that bilateral trade had grown from $50 billion to nearly $80 billion and that Italy’s exports to China increased by 30% over the past five years. Those figures haven’t been corroborated. Italy’s new government has cast doubt on the benefits of the arrangement. Italy signed on to the initiative in 2019, but it is not expected to extend it when it comes up for renewal at year’s end.