Wang Yi Meets with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Italy Antonio Tajani

On February 16, 2023 local time, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi met with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Italy Antonio Tajani in Rome.

Recalling the ancient Silk Road that linked up the people of the two countries, Wang Yi said China attaches great importance to relations with Italy and stands ready to work with Italy to deepen comprehensive strategic cooperation, with a view to realizing even higher-level development of bilateral relations. As China has successfully put the pandemic under control, its economy has recovered strongly and cross-border travel has resumed in an orderly manner. China and Italy can restart exchanges and cooperation in various fields in an all-round way and at full tilt, so as to recoup the time lost due to the pandemic. By signing the Belt and Road cooperation documents, China and Italy have greatly upgraded bilateral strategic relations. The two sides can tap the potential of cooperation in green development, digital economy, third-party markets and other areas, and strive for more positive results in the China-Italy relationship, which is a good asset for the two sides. China stands ready to import more quality products from Italy, and support Italian companies in expanding their market share in China. Meanwhile, China hopes that Italy will provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese businesses.

Wang Yi said that China values Italy's status and influence on the international stage, and stands ready to work with Italy to uphold the centrality of the United Nations, safeguard the norms governing international relations underpinned by the purposes of the UN Charter, advocate and practice multilateralism, and promote greater democracy in international relations and economic globalization. China also expects Italy to make positive contributions to the development of China-EU relations.

Tajani said that Italy and China enjoy time-honored friendly relations. In the face of the new situation in the post-pandemic era, Italy expects to work with China to restart bilateral cooperation mechanisms as soon as possible, hold the 11th Joint Meeting of the China-Italy Government Committee and the meeting of the Economic Cooperation Mixed Committee at an early date, and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields. Europe and China, as important markets for each other, should strengthen cooperation, promote mutual investment and expand trade. Italy attaches importance to international affairs such as the reform of the UN Security Council and stands ready to strengthen coordination and collaboration with China in this regard.

The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on the Ukraine issue. Wang Yi stressed that what China has been doing on the Ukraine issue is to promote talks for peace. The more complicated the situation is, the more necessary it is to stick to political and diplomatic efforts to find a solution acceptable to all parties. Appreciating the fact that China has always stood on the side of peace, Tajani said Italy is ready to strengthen cooperation with China to jointly promote peace talks.