Meeting in Beijing, China's Xi and Italy's Meloni discuss conflicts

By Joe Cash and Angelo Amante

BEIJING/ROME (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni discussed the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East at a meeting in Beijing on Monday, Meloni's office said.

Meloni, whose country currently holds the rotating G7 presidency, stressed the importance of China as a partner in dealing with growing global insecurity during their talks.

The two leaders addressed the "priority issues on the international agenda from the war in Ukraine to the risks of a further escalation of the situation in the Middle East. They also discussed the growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific," the Italian leader's office said in a statement.

Meloni is seeking to relaunch her country's economic ties with Beijing after Italy exited Xi's flagship Belt and Road Initiative last year and amid deteriorating trade ties between the West and the world's second-largest economy.

"There is growing insecurity at the international level, and I think that China is inevitably a very important interlocutor to deal with all these dynamics," Meloni said during the talks at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guest House.

Meloni stressed the importance of putting trade on a more even footing, rather than being tilted towards Beijing.

"I think that Italy can also play an important role in relations with the European Union and here too the attempts to create trade relations that are as balanced as possible," she said.

EU trade policy has turned increasingly protective over concerns that China's production-focused development model could see the bloc flooded with cheap goods as Chinese firms look to step up exports amid weak domestic demand.

The European Commission this month confirmed it would impose preliminary tariffs of up to 37.6% on imports of electric vehicles made in China, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing.

Chinese officials have warned of a possible trade war, should Brussels not back down.

"REBOUND INTO A NEW ERA"

Italy is of strategic importance to China as it has struck out on its own with Beijing before, and could prove to be a moderating voice within the bloc.

In 2019, Italy became the only member of the Group of Seven industrialised democracies to join Xi's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, billed as recreating the ancient Silk Road trade route.

And while Italy eventually left the infrastructure investment scheme last year, under pressure from the U.S. over concerns about Beijing's economic reach, Rome signalled it still desired to forge stronger trade ties with the Asian giant, signing a three-year action plan on Sunday.

"Both sides face important opportunities for mutual development," Xi told Meloni at the start of their meeting.

"China and Italy should uphold the spirit of the Silk Road ... so that the bridge of communication between East and West through it can rebound into a new era."

(Reporting by Joe Cash; Additional reporting by Liz Lee in Beijing and Keith Weir, Alessandro Parodi and Angelo Amante, Editing by William Maclean and Alex Richardson)