Italy, China to sign multi-bn-euro deals

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Tuesday Rome and Beijing would sign 20 multi-billion-euro agreements that would boost mutual investment and trade exchange.
Renzi, at a joint news conference with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang, said the 2nd Italy-China Business Forum, which was opened earlier, would witness tonight the signature of 20 agreements with a value exceeding eight billion euros (USD 10 billion).
Renzi said the Chinese investors were keen on doing business in Italy.
The Italian Prime Minister, who visited China on top of an economic delegation last June, said China was the second largest non-EU trade partner for Italy after the US.
He noted that Sino-Italian trade exchange was 32.9 billion euros in 2013. Italian exports to China grew by 8.3 percent in the first half this year, he added.
Li said relations with Italy were growing progressively.
China "does not wish to have a bilateral trade surplus in the relations with Italy," he said, and Beijing planned to import more Italian products.