Italy delivers a blow to Beijing’s European ambitions by pulling out of the global Belt and Road Initiative

News Snapshot:

Open this photo in gallery: A person stands in front of a sign of the Third Belt and Road Forum ahead of its opening ceremony, near the media centre in Beijing, China, October 18, 2023.TINGSHU WANG/Reuters In a blow to Beijing’s efforts to gain a greater trading, investment and political foothold in Europe, Italy has formally withdrawn from China’s Belt and Road Initiative after four years of membership. Italy, the European Union’s third-largest economy, was the only G7 country to join the BRI. Its membership in the global infrastructure development program irritated the United States and many countries in Western...