An Italian fashion billionaire who is opening a new shop in China almost every week says bowing out of a controversial investment pact between the two nations won’t hurt his business.
Renzo Rosso, chairman of the OTB holding company that owns brands including Diesel, Marni and Jil Sander, said Tuesday he’s not worried over Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s plan to exit Xi Jinping’s signature Belt and Road initiative.
“Meloni is working on this, she says the pact is a bit subdued, and that we can do much better,” Rosso said in an interview in Rome. “I believe we deserve an important deal for what we are and what we do.”
China is a key growth market for OTB. The company’s revenues in the country more than doubled in the eight months through August. Rosso, who recently met with the Chinese ambassador in Rome, is planning a trip to the Asian country next month.
For the business community, the impact of the controversial pact with China on trade has been twofold, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Eurostat data.
While imports from China accelerated between 2020 and 2022, following the signing of the Belt and Road memorandum, the trend has been more volatile for exports. After growing almost 20% in 2021, they only rose 5% last year, lagging behind the pace of inflation.
On Saturday, Meloni privately signaled to her Chinese counterpart Li Qiang that Italy plans to withdraw from Belt and Road, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Italy in 2019 signed up for the pact, which has become a test of the nation’s relations with the US.
(Updates with trade data)
