Meloni to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping - Beijing

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 25 - Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, her counterpart Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, president of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the legislative branch of the Chinese parliament, during her first official visit to China, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, Mao Ning, said on Thursday.
    Meloni's visit is scheduled to take place on July 27-31.
    The "healthy and stable" development of relations between China and Italy is "in line with the common interests of both nations", the spokesperson also said, stressing that bilateral relations are positive and that China is willing to use Meloni's first official trip to the country as "an opportunity to strengthen understanding and confidence, to deepen practical cooperation and to constantly move forward relations between China and Italy and between China and the EU".
    Meloni's government last year pulled out of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), having been the only G7 country to sign up in 2019 for the BRI, one of China's most ambitious infrastructure and trade plans. (ANSA).