• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Italy Is Ready to Lead European Nations Into China's Embrace

Italy Is Ready to Lead European Nations Into China's Embrace

Italy Is Ready to Lead European Nations Into China's Embrace
March 22, 2019
Bloomberg

Italy is ready to lead other European countries into signing up for China’s new Silk Road, despite U.S. and allies’ concerns at Rome’s new openness towards the Asian giant, a senior government member said ahead of President Xi Jinping’s visit to Rome.

“The Silk Road is already in Europe. The train to China leaves from Duisburg in Germany,” Michele Geraci, undersecretary at the Ministry for Economic Development, told Bloomberg Television as he defended Rome’s decision to volunteer for a role in Xi’s massive Belt and Road infrastructure project.

“I do think that Italy leading the remaining European countries along the Silk Road could actually entice other countries to join,” said Geraci, the architect of Rome’s openness to China. He added signatories could shape “a European unified strategy” aimed at the development of countries in Africa, the Middle East and along the Silk Road.

Italy will on Saturday be the first Group of Seven country to sign a Belt and Road memorandum, fueling U.S. worries about an open door for China into strategic sectors like telecoms and ports. European Union allies have also voiced disquiet about Italy’s bilateral approach, seen as deviating from the group’s policy of dealing with China as a bloc.

Geraci said Italy has had “a constant dialogue” with allies. “The fact is that already almost half of European countries have already signed the MOU,” said Geraci, adding that European countries “have signed and put money for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank which is the financing arm of the Belt and Road.”

Xi’s visit to Italy, from Thursday, and then to France coincides with pressure from Washington on European allies to ban Huawei Technologies Co. from future 5G telecom networks. Geraci said the memorandum of understanding was a separate issue.

“The MOU that we will be signing this weekend has nothing to do with 5G. There are no names of specific companies, so the name Huawei is not mentioned, neither are any of the Italian or Chinese company names mentioned,” Geraci said.

Brushing aside worries that China could penetrate Italian strategic sectors, Geraci referred to the so-called Golden Power rule to safeguard national interests in deals with foreign entities. Geraci said the rule is “one of the strongest in Europe” and “prevents predatory M&A coming in Italy.”

Xi will be meeting President Sergio Mattarella and Italian business leaders on Friday before signing the memorandum on Saturday with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio, who is also economic development minister.

Geraci dismissed financial market speculation that China might be ready to buy Italian government bonds. “The Italian bond market is one of the most liquid bond markets in the world, yields may be attractive for some investors,” Geraci said, adding the secondary market is open.

“If any country wishes to purchase Italian BTPs, they can do that, but that’s not a direct relationship at government-to-government level,” Geraci said.

Italy’s ranking as a G-7 member will serve it in dealings with China, Geraci said, adding that “just because of that we are less likely to fall into problems such as the debt trap or Chinese over-investment.” Italy’s economy is “large enough to shoulder any potential hot money coming into the country, in fact we need a little bit of investment,” he said.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Logistics Global Logistics Transportation & Distribution Global Trade & Economics China Europe
KEYWORDS China Europe Global Logistics Global Trade & Economics Logistics Transportation & Distribution
  • Related Articles

    Italy’s China Chill Runs Deeper Than Fears Over the Coronavirus

    Increase in Air Cargo Increase Attributed to Middle Class Growth in China, Emerging Nations

    Companies Say They're Ready to Move Supply Chains From China

Bloomberg

As Retail Sales Improved, Inventories Rose Less in February Than Expected

More from this author

Wake up to Coronavirus Updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • Coronavirus-watch-Armada

    Virus Update: Biden Sees Shots Widely Available by Spring; Third of Staffs Will Work From Home Permanently

    Coronavirus
  • Car Industry

    A Year of Poor Planning Led to Carmakers’ Massive Chip Shortage

    Technology
  • U.S. Vaccine Rollout Hindered by Faulty Coordination, Messaging

    WHO Fumes at Western Drugmakers As China Fills Vaccine Void

    Coronavirus
  • Third-Party Cybersecurity

    What Vaccine Supply Chains Must Do to Protect Against Cyberattack

    Coronavirus
  • California Trucker

    Why One Southern California Trucker Stays Independent

    Logistics

Digital Edition

Scb home issue 27

2020 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • LSP Saves Customer $1.5 Million a Year With MPO Global Inbound Management

  • Auto Supplier Wows Key Client Using riskmethods Supply Chain Savvy

  • Integrating Shipping and Compliance Saves Conglomerate Millions

  • How a Consumer Goods Giant Upped Its On-Time Delivery Performance

  • LSP Wows Global Client, Quickly Advances to Become End-to-End Provider

Visit Our Sponsors

6 River Systems ArcBest Armada
aThingz BluJay Burris Logistics
DSC Logistics DCSA (Digital Container Shipping Association) DHL Resilience360
Genpact GEP Honeywell Intelligrated
Infor Logility Magnitude Software
MPO Old Dominion Oliver Wight
OpenSky Ports America Purolator
QAD Precision Red Classic Riskmethods
TGW Systems Transportation Insights Watson Land Company
Westfalia Technologies Workjam Yang Ming
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright © 2016 - 2018 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing