The "improvised" decision multiplied Chinese exports to Italy, but failed to do the same for Italian exports, he said.

The decision to join the Silk Road multiplied China’s exports to Italy but did not have the same effect on Italian exports to China, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said. “The issue today is: how to walk back [from the BRI] without damaging relations [with Beijing], because it is true that China is a competitor, but it is also a partner,” Crosetto added. Italy signed up to the BRI under a previous government, becoming the only major Western country to have taken such a step.

  • Blaze (he/him)English
    2·
    1 year ago

    With the increased purchasing power in China’s upper middle class, you might imagine they could import some fancy Italian clothes, but I guess there is no way this would compensate the amount of Chinese good that Italians are importing