Italy PM Meloni arrives in China on first official visit

BEIJING: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in Beijing on Saturday, Chinese state media said, in her first visit to the country since she took office nearly two years ago.

During the five-day trip she is due to meet President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, with boosting bilateral trade and ending the war in Ukraine topping the agenda.

“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in Beijing on the afternoon of 27 July for an official visit,” state broadcaster CGTN said in a post on the Weibo social network.

Meloni will be looking to “relaunch bilateral relations in sectors of common interest”, an Italian official told AFP on condition of anonymity.