China an ‘important interlocutor,’ Meloni tells XiAFP, BEIJINGItalian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni yesterday hailed China as an “important interlocutor” in managing global tensions as she met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, walks into a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, front left, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing yesterday. Photo: EPA-EFE“There is growing insecurity at an international level and I think that China is inevitably a very important interlocutor to address all these dynamics,” Meloni told Xi. Meloni’s administration withdrew from the Belt and Road Initiative in December last year, having been the only G7 nation to sign up. Meloni’s administration has since sought to mend Italy’s ties with China, Italy’s second-largest non-EU trading partner after the US.
