Italy: Top-down de-risking vs bottom-up deepening of ties

Italy’s de-risking has been a gradual process of reducing critical dependencies on China. Rome-Beijing ties reached their apex during the Conte governments (2019–2021), which saw the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Until Italy’s official exit from the BRI in December 2023, the country was the only G7 nation to have officially endorsed Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy initiative. Italy has undergone a process of top-down de-risking, which began with the government led by Mario Draghi in February 2021 and accelerated with the arrival in power of a national-conservative coalition led by Giorgia Meloni in September 2022. However, a bottom-up deepening of ties has also emerged. The process of derisking has therefore been stripped of much of its substance by the return to power of political forces that favour closer relations with China, as well as by the decision of some important companies, various local authorities and universities to continue, and even boost, their relations with China in sensitive areas.