Meeting In Beijing, Italian PM Meloni And Xi Jinping Discuss The Ukraine War To The Middle East Crisis

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni while in Beijing China/PHOTO via Instagram @ giorgiameloni

JAKARTA - Chinese President Xi Jinping and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni discussed the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East at a meeting in Beijing.

Meloni, whose country currently holds the post of G7-revolving president, stressed the importance of China as a partner in overcoming the growing global insecurity.

They also discussed rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, Meloni's office said.

Meloni is trying to renew his country's economic relations with Beijing after Italy left the Belt and Road Initiative, which Xi announced last year, including amid deteriorating trade relations between the West and the world's second-largest economy.

"There is an increase in insecurity at the international level, and I think China is a very important interlocutor to deal with all these dynamics," Meloni said in talks at the State Guest House in Beijing.

The European Union's trade policy has turned increasingly protective over concerns that a production-focused Chinese development model could cause the bloc to be flooded with cheap goods as Chinese companies seek to increase exports amid weak domestic demand.

The European Commission this month confirmed it would impose an initial tariff of up to 37.6 percent on imports of electric vehicles made in China, thereby increasing tensions with Beijing.