Editor's note: At a forum hosted by the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China in July, former Speaker of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Irene Pivetti was invited to deliver a speech. This is an excerpt of her discussion with Chinese experts and scholars on the Belt and Road Initiative. Opinions expressed in the video are her own and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Irene Pivetti: What would happen to the signature of the Belt and Road Initiative memorandum? I don't know. By now we are there. Culture of Italy is a friend of China. So many entrepreneurs are working to and fro with China.

There are so many cultural links and also economic links between our people that the reality is there. Of course, politics sometimes takes decisions difficult to understand, by now that decision has not yet been taken. So Italy is still a signing partner country for the Belt and Road Initiative. As an Italian citizen, I hope that Italy will never withdraw from there.

In any case, academics, entrepreneurs and common people, we go on looking and appreciating a tighter relationship with China, and as far as I'm concerned, and this maybe I can do something more. We will multiply the bridges between China and Italy, China and Europe.

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