BEIJING — Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed to "relaunch" relations with China as she began her first visit to Beijing since taking office.

Ms Meloni met Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the beginning of her five-day trip and signed a three-year plan to strengthen economic cooperation between the two nations.

It comes after Ms Meloni last year removed her country from President Xi Jinping's signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

At the time, Rome said the massive Chinese investment scheme had failed to bring any benefits to Italy.

Ms Meloni described her trip as a "demonstration of the will to begin a new phase, to relaunch our bilateral cooperation".

She also said the two countries have signed an agreement that aims to boost cooperation on electric vehicles and renewable energy.

In a statement released by his office, Premier Li said the two countries aim to increase "mutually beneficial cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises in the fields of shipbuilding, aerospace, new energy, artificial intelligence."

Italy was the only major Western nation to sign up to the BRI, one of China's most ambitious trade and infrastructure projects.

The move was heavily criticized at the time by the US and some other major Western countries.

Since coming to office in 2022, Ms Meloni has sought to lead a more pro-Western and pro-Nato foreign policy than her predecessors.

Before withdrawing from the BRI, Ms Meloni had described the former government's decision to join it as "a serious mistake".

Under her leadership, Italy has moved to block a Chinese state-owned company from taking control of tire-making giant Pirelli.

Rome has also supported a recent move by the European Commission to impose tariffs of as much as 37.6% on electric vehicles imported from China.

Two-way trade between the two countries reached 66.8 billion euros (£56.3 billion) last year, making China Italy's largest non-EU trading partner after the US. — BBC