Italy tells China it is leaving Belt and Road Initiative - sources

Italy has officially informed China that it is pulling out of the trade and infrastructure project known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), two government sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had indicated for months that she wanted to withdraw from the deal, which is modelled on the old Silk Road that linked China to the West.

Italy in 2019 became the first and so far only G7 nation to join the programme. Its accord with China expires in March 2024 and would have been automatically renewed unless Rome gave at least three months' written warning that it was pulling out.

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