Restarting relations with her China the prime minister of Italy pledged Georgia Meloni in her first visit to Beijing since taking office aimed at restoring ties between the two nations.

Meloni who met Chinese Premier Li Chiang at the start of her five-day trip signed a three-year plan with the aim of developing industrial cooperation between the two countries.

He also said they signed an agreement aimed at strengthening cooperation in electric vehicles and renewable energy.

In a statement released by his office, Premier Li said the two countries aim to increase “mutually beneficial cooperation between small and medium enterprises in the fields of shipbuilding, aerospace, new energy, artificial intelligence”.

Italy was the only major Western nation to sign the BRI (Belt and Road initiative), one of China’s most ambitious trade and infrastructure projects. But this move was strongly criticized at the time by the US and some other major Western countries.

Since taking office in 2022, Georgia Meloni has sought to lead a more pro-Western and pro-hostile foreign policy than her predecessors. Before withdrawing from the BRI, Meloni had described the former government’s decision to join it as a “serious mistake”.

Under her leadership, Italy also moved to prevent a Chinese state-owned company from taking control of tire-making giant Pirelli.

Rome also backed a recent move by the European Commission to impose tariffs of up to 37.6% on electric vehicles imported from China.

Two-way trade between the two countries reached 66.8 billion euros last year, making China Italy’s largest trading partner outside the EU after the US.