Chinese president signs trade deal with Italy despite USA pushback

The signing of the agreement comes during Chinese President Xi Jinping's three-day visit to Italy in an attempt to improve relations with Rome as China is now engaged in a trade war with Washington. Despite push-back from the U.S. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, went through with a deal, which aims to strengthen Italy's weak economy. Xi said a year ago that even as China moves closer to the center of the world stage, it will never seek hegemony. The Belt and Road initiative is the centrepiece of China's foreign policy strategy and was incorporated into the ruling Communist Party Constitution in 2017, showing Xi's desire of making China a global leader.