Italy’s enthusiasm for Chinese investment has recently cooled, as transatlanticism, security risks and domestic resentment become decisive factors. The Italian change of heart is shared by the EU, which is finally developing a coordinated and values-based response to Chinese economic activity in the bloc. On 21 March 2019, the Chinese president Xi Jinping landed in Rome to sign an agreement with Italy on China’s vast Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Accompanied by 500 high-level political and economic leaders, Xi was greeted lavishly. Putting his name to some 30 economic memoranda, he personified the expected Chinese investment bonanza that would now be entering the country. As the first G-7 economy to participate in the BRI, Rome brushed aside sharp criticism from