As Italy leaves BRI, China warns against 'smearing' of the mega-initiative

China reacted sharply on Thursday (Dec 7) after Italy said that it would withdraw from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin slammed what he termed was the 'smearing' of the ambitious infrastructure project. Italy has withdrawn from BRI just four years after it became the only G7 country to join the China-led global initiative.

"China firmly opposes smearing and undermining of cooperation on the joint construction of the Belt and Road," said Wang.

China also opposes "confrontation and division among camps that causes separation", he added. The foreign ministry however, did not comment directly on Italy's exit.

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The Belt and Road Initiative is Beijing's ambitious global project through which it wishes to establish land and sea-based trade routes from China to the West, undertaking mega projects to create an infrastructure towards the end goal.

However, critics of BRI say that the project is a cover for China's intention to greatly expand its influence around the world. China has repeatedly drawn flak for the 'debt trap' strategy it uses to gain political and strategic assets.

Wang however, said that participation from more that 150 countries was an evidence that BRI was the "most popular international public product and the largest international cooperation platform in the world today".

He also underlined that Italy had sent representatives to BRI forum held in Beijing in October this year.

"This embodies the huge appeal and global influence of jointly constructing the Belt and Road," he said.

AFP cited an Italian government source who confirmed that Rome had exited the BRI.

The IMEEC

The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC), the MoU for which was signed during the New Delhi G20 Summit in September, is widely perceived as an initiative launched to counter BRI.

On September 10, the governments of India, Saudi Arabia, UAE, France, Germany, Italy, the European Union and the United States signed the MoU.

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The IMEEC seeks to bolster communication as well as transport links between Asia and the West. This would see the establishment of rail and shipping networks and more. In this respect, the IMEEC resembles the BRI.

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The announcement of the IMEEC corridor came at a time when critics have been pointing at opaque pricing of the infrastructure projects undertaken by Chinese companies under BRI. Countries like Malaysia and Myanmar are renegotiating the deals to bring down prices.

(With inputs from agencies)