Italy on Saturday signed a "non-binding" protocol with China to take part in Beijing's new "Silk Road" of transport and trade links stretching from Asia to Europe.

In doing so, Italy became the first G7 country to sign up for the massive project, which has sparked unease in the US and the European Union as China aspires to a greater world role.

Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte both attended a ceremony for the signing of 29 memoranda of understanding, which Italian media said were worth 5.0 to 7.0 billion euros ($5.6 to 8.0 billion).

Also signing the accords were the chairman of China's chairman National Development Commission He Lifeng, and Italian deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio, who also holds the economic development portfolio.

After a brief meeting with Conte, Xi and his wife Peng Liyan flew to Palermo, Sicily for a private visit to the Palazzo dei Normanni.

Italian financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore said the value of the Chinese investments could rise to 20 billion euros but would for now be limited to the strategic ports of Genoa and Trieste.

Italy has rolled out the red carpet for Xi, who Friday sought to allay Western unease over his transformational infrastructure initiative by stressing the $1 trillion project's mutual benefits.

Italian firms to benefit include the Ansaldo group, which wins a contract for making turbines, and the Danieli group, which lands a 1.1 billion-euro deal to build an iron and steel plant in Azerbaijan.

The accords also foresee the opening up of the Chinese market for Italian oranges as well as a partnership for Chinese tourism giant Ctrip, notably with Rome's airports.

Cultural tie-ups including town twinnings are also on the agenda, and Beijing is pushing to have several Serie A football matches played in China -- although that would currently contravene regulations of the game's governing body FIFA.

- 'Opportunity - and risk' -

"We are well aware, with this memorandum of understanding, that there is risk as well as opportunity," said secretary of state for the economy Michele Geraci, who spent a decade working in China.

Italy has made a point of giving Xi a fulsome welcome, despite the misgivings in Washington and Brussels. Conte is due to sign further deals during a visit to China on April 26 to 27.

Their aim was to correct the imbalance in which Chinese goods were arriving in Italy, but not enough Italian goods were going the other way, said Di Maio.

Critics say Beijing's ambitious maritime, rail and road venture is "predatory" and overwhelmingly favours China and Chinese companies.

But on Friday, Xi rejected any idea of a conflict of interest after talks with his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella.

"China wants commercial exchanges to go both ways and for investment to flow in both directions," Xi said.

Mattarella responded that business must go "in both directions... with fair competition, respecting intellectual property rights while fighting counterfeit goods".

In what some perceived as a snub, Italy's far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini did not attend Friday's state dinner for Xi at Mattarella's Quirinal Palace, having stated that Italy would be "no-one's colony".

Salvini has notably urged caution about using Chinese telecom giant Huawei's next generation 5G mobile technology. His coalition partner Luigi Di Maio is keener for Chinese partnerships.

The United States has warned European allies that Huawei could use its 5G technology as a "backdoor" for spying, something China has strongly rejected, calling them "abnormal, immoral" attacks.

Xi is due in France on Sunday for talks with President Emmanuel Macron.

China's Xi insists new Silk Road runs both ways as Italy signs up
Rome (AFP) March 22, 2019 - Chinese President Xi Jinping sought Friday to allay Western unease over his new Silk Road initiative by emphasising the vast infrastructure project's two-way nature as he kicked off a whistlestop European tour in Rome.

Italy has rolled out the red carpet for Xi, who will on Saturday sign a memorandum of understanding for Rome to join the $1 trillion Belt and Road Initiative despite misgivings in Washington and Brussels.

Italy will be the first of the Group of Seven most-developed nations to sign up for the new Silk Road, which critics say is "predatory" and overwhelmingly favours China and Chinese companies.

"Between us, there is no fundamental conflict of interest," Xi told journalists after talks with his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella.

"China wants commercial exchanges to go both ways and for investment to flow in both directions," Xi said.

Mattarella said that business must go "in both directions... with fair competition, respecting intellectual property rights and while fighting counterfeit goods".

- Salvini snub -

Around 1,000 extra police have been deployed around Rome for the state visit before Xi heads to the Sicilian city of Palermo, where his singer wife Peng Liyuan reportedly wants to see the Teatro Massimo opera house.

In what some perceived as a snub, Italy's far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said he would not attend Friday's state dinner for Xi at Mattarella's Quirinal Palace.

Salvini has said Italy would be "no-one's colony" and urged caution about using telecom Chinese giant Huawei's next generation 5G mobile technology, while his coalition partner Luigi Di Maio is keener for Chinese partnerships.

The United States has warned European allies that Huawei could use its 5G technology as a "backdoor" for spying, a claim that China has strongly rejected, calling them "abnormal, immoral" attacks.

NATO member Italy's plan to join China's ambitious maritime, rail and road venture has raised eyebrows among Western allies and within Italy.

"Today we say 'Italy first' in trade relations, while remaining US allies, in NATO and in the EU," Deputy Prime Minister Di Maio of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement said on the sidelines of a China-Italy business forum on Friday.

- 'Vanity project' -

Debt-ridden Italy is technically in recession and keen to have more business with China.

White House official Garrett Marquis last week tweeted that there was "no need" for Italy to endorse "China's infrastructure vanity project".

Xi's visit comes a week after the European Union released a 10-point plan outlining a shift to more assertive relations with Beijing, warning that China was a "rival" to the bloc as well as its biggest trading partner.

France on Thursday announced that President Emmanuel Macron will hold trade and climate talks on Tuesday with Xi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.

In Brussels, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Friday briefed EU leaders about Italy's Silk Road MoU, where Merkel said: "As he (Conte) described it, I don't think I have anything to criticise, for now.

"But we have of course already said that it's better to act uniformly," she said.

Macron, who is at loggerheads with Italy's populist government, said: "It's not a good method to discuss new Silk Road agreements bilaterally."

Friday's Brussels summit also laid the foundations for Europe-wide policies ahead of a much-anticipated China-EU summit on April 9 in the Belgian capital.

"For the first time there is a will to coordinate," Macron said.

The European Commission will before the end of the year come up with a broad proposal for the EU's "industrial future", including measures on commerce, competition and hi-tech.

Beijing is particularly interested in investing in Italian ports to help funnel its products into Europe, amid warnings that Rome must avoid the model of the Greek port of Piraeus, which was taken over by Chinese shipping giant Cosco in 2016.

Supporters of the non-binding memorandum of understanding said that it will lead to China complying with European Union standards, including on the environment and intellectual property, and cannot be compared to debt-inducing deals Beijing has signed with developing countries.

Despite apparent warming ties, Xi is not expected to meet Pope Francis.

The Vatican has diplomatic relations with Taiwan and not Beijing, so the encounter would be unlikely despite an agreement on appointing bishops in China signed last year.

Xi heads to Monaco on Sunday and then on to France to cap his European tour.

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China's Xi arrives in Italy amid Silk Road unease
Rome (AFP) March 21, 2019
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Rome on Thursday evening at the start of a whistlestop European tour amid growing Western unease over the economic giant's new Silk Road project. Xi descended from his Air China Boeing 747 with first lady Peng Liyuan at Rome's Fiumicino airport before being whisked off to their hotel in the Italian capital, AFPTV reported. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is to sign a memorandum of understanding with Xi on Saturday for Italy to join the $1 trillion Belt and R ... read more