Opinion | Why ‘win-win’ New Silk Road deals with Italy and France are within Xi Jinping’s grasp
- Chinese president will be hoping to secure a ‘belt and road’ deal with Rome, but may face a greater challenge in Paris
- Beijing sees Italy as key to its maritime strategy and hopes to invest in several of its ports
Since ascending to China’s top leadership, Xi Jinping has become well known for his frequent overseas travels.
Now that the annual session of the National People’s Congress is over, the president can look forward to a busy international agenda which includes a forum on his signature “Belt and Road Initiative” in Beijing, where he hopes to host a large number of foreign heads of state and government.
Yet Xi’s trip to Europe, which started on Thursday in Italy, is perhaps the most intriguing of all.
Two of the three countries chosen by Beijing for the visit – Italy and France (he will also travel to Monaco) – are founding members of the European Union. They are also G7 and Nato members, fairly large economies, and strong US allies, which sets them apart from nations in Eastern Europe that are considered easy targets for “predatory” China.
Still, as China knows, the political and economic realities of Paris and Rome could not be further apart.