Italian populists—skeptical of the value of EU membership—drove Italy to become the first G7 country to join China’s New Silk Road amid pushback from Europe and the US. Italians hoped this would boost their exports to China and increase Chinese investment in Italy. But not much happened. Then came the pandemic, and generous EU aid, leaving Italians to reassess who their real friends are, and how best to help their economy.

On China’s Silk Road is a production of the Global Reporting Centre in Vancouver, Canada, which produces and teachers global journalism. The podcast was created by Mary Kay Magistad, a former China correspondent for US public radio’s The World, working with partner reporters on five continents. The full series is available wherever you get your podcasts or by visiting the Global Reporting Centre podcast project webpage.