Today, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Antonio Tajani, had a telephone conversation with the State Councilor and Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Wang Yi.
The telephone conversation followed by only a few days the meeting held between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, testifying to the importance of the Italy-China partnership. During the conversation, Minister Tajani reaffirmed to his counterpart Wang Wi Italy’s commitment to relaunch bilateral dialogue and reinforce economic relations in key economic sectors, first and foremost in the energy transition and efficiency sector, and expressed the hope to facilitate the access of Italian food products into the Chinese market. With trade volumes worth 54 billion euros in 2021 and on a continuous uptrend after the difficulties caused by the pandemic, China is now our leading commercial partner in Asia and a market of primary importance for our businesses.
The two ministers then went on to overview the principal international policy dossiers. With respect to the war in Ukraine, Minister Tajani pointed out the need to promote all possible diplomatic initiatives to favour the peaceful settlement of the conflict and thus avoid a dangerous escalation. With regards to EU-China relations, the head of the Farnesina expressed the hope for a hasty resumption of all channels of dialogue, including on the issue of human rights.
