Xi Jinping’s state visits to Italy and France from March 21-26, 2019 was a milestone in the Belt and Road Initiative’s (BRI) westward expansion. One of the key elements of this visit was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Italian government, according to which Italy would actively take part in the Belt and Road Initiative. This was particularly significant as Italy was then the first Western European country and G7 power to show such a strong interest for the BRI.

Joël Ruet took part in CGTN’s Dialogue program to comment this signing, along with Michele Geraci, the Italian Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Economic Development, responsible for international trade and foreign direct investments. In a context of a very commented signing by the Italian authorities and a just as commented lack of signing by the French authorities, Joël Ruet highlighted that France’s investments and trade with China remained much higher than Italy’s. He added that, in the European view, the priority was not to sign a Belt and Road agreement, but to have concrete economic commitments.

During Xi Jinping’s state visit to France, the host country also innovated institutionally by inviting German chancellor Angela Merkel as well as Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, to meet with the Chinese and French heads of state. This highlighted the European Union’s shared point of view  regarding diplomacy with China, especially in the context of a unilateral signing by Italy.