Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi to visit Italy, Switzerland this week
China’s foreign minister Wang Yi will visit Italy and Switzerland from Tuesday until October 12, China’s foreign ministry said on Sunday.
The visit follows Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s trip to Beijing in late July, her first visit to China since taking power in 2022, during which the two countries signed a three-year action plan and several memoranda of understanding.
In September, Italy’s deputy prime minister, in an interview with Chinese state media, talked up cooperation with China in the auto industry, saying “the two countries enjoy broad prospects for cooperation in automobiles, smart roads and other transport areas.”
Italy’s government last Monday also offered an olive branch to state-backed Chinese group Sinochem 600500.SS, the main shareholder of tyre maker Pirelli PIRC.MI, by establishing it had not violated measures Rome imposed in 2023.
Wang will join the 12th joint meeting of the China-Italy Government Committee and the fourth round of the China-Switzerland Foreign Ministers-level Strategic Dialogue, the ministry said in a statement.
