Italian President Mattarella meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing amid difficult relations

BEIJING (AP) — Italian President Sergio Mattarella met Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday during an official visit to China that comes as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has turned Rome’s NATO allies against Beijing’s support for Moscow.

They exchanged greetings after the ceremony with full military honors at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.

In his opening remarks, Xi Jinping referred to the 700th anniversary of Italian adventurer and trader Marco Polo’s journey to China, which fostered cultural, economic and religious ties between Europe and East Asia.

Italy relies heavily on foreign trade, such as luxury goods, which have a large market in China. It is also a member of NATO, which China accuses of provoking the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Beijing has been helping Moscow by buying energy exports while selling it technology that can be used in drones and other weapons.

Any differences on political issues were not discussed in the media, and the two leaders later oversaw the signing of a series of agreements on issues ranging from culture to technology and trade.

Italy withdraws from Xi Jinping’s signature global initiative “Belt and Road” which aims to deepen China’s relations with countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East through infrastructure investments.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni refused to renew the agreement, but nevertheless visited China in July.

Italy has become first G7 country to join this initiative in 2019, when the populist, anti-establishment government led by the Five Star Movement party promoted it as a way to increase trade with China while attracting investment in major infrastructure projects. But neither appeared, and the investments in Italian ports that made headlines never materialized.