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Joining China's Belt and Road was an 'atrocious' decision, Italian minister says (www.reuters.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The decision to join the Silk Road multiplied China's exports to Italy but did not have the same effect on Italian exports to China, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said. "The issue today is: how to walk back [from the BRI] without damaging relations [with Beijing], because it is true that China is a competitor, but it is also a partner," Crosetto added. Italy signed up to the BRI under a previous government, becoming the only major Western country to have taken such a step.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The whole Belt and Road initiative is effectively a scam and I'm amazed how many countries think they want in on it

Most chinese people are not going to buy Italian luxury goods But a ton of Italians will happily buy super cheap Chinese stuff

Rich people are going to buy the Ferrari and other luxury stuff even without this whole thing

So effectively again so many countries are hoping to break into the Chinese market only to pay for a big portion of the construction and gain close to nothing from it

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

With the increased purchasing power in China's upper middle class, you might imagine they could import some fancy Italian clothes, but I guess there is no way this would compensate the amount of Chinese good that Italians are importing