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

Italian PM Meloni and Chinese President Xi Jinping discuss global insecurity, trade relations, and the war in Ukraine.

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.

Ms. 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.

Ms. Meloni is seeking to relaunch her country's economic ties with Beijing after Italy exited Mr. 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," Ms. Meloni said during the talks at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guest House.

Ms. 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.