ROME, April 14 (Reuters) – Italy will have to be increasingly cautious in its trade ties with China, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti was quoted as saying on Friday in reference to Rome’s partnership in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative project.

In 2019, Italy became the 1st key industrialised nation to sign up for the initiative, a multinational project made to expand China’s trade footprint.

On the other hand, tiny has so far come of the pact, which was signed for the duration of a state go to to Italy by Chinese President Xi Jinping and is due for renewal in 2024.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated final year, ahead of she was elected, that she did not want to favour Chinese expansion into Italy or Europe.

“The geopolitical context and what I have perceived leads to an even much more cautious strategy than in the previous,” Giorgetti was quoted as saying by Italian news agency ANSA on the sidelines of an International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington D.C.

A final assessment on the initiative will be provided by Meloni, he stated.

Reporting by Federico Maccioni editing by John Stonestreet

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