Over the past year, Italian exports to China have tripled, as February’s shipments alone rose by 131% year over year, with no obvious reason for the increase, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
According to the outlet, Italian shipments of goods to China rose to over €3 billion ($3.3 billion) in February, significantly up from the approximately €1 billion ($1 billion) Italy exported last February
According to Bloomberg data, the majority of the shipments were pharmaceuticals, in the very specific category of “medicaments consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, put up in measured doses.”
Nearly two thirds of February Chinese imports were made up of goods from this segment, which were worth €1.84 billion ($2 billion), compared to just €98.5 million ($107 million) one year prior.
One possible explanation being floated in the Italian media is that the sudden surge in demand for shipments from this segment revolves around a generic Italian liver drug which contains a chemical, UDCA, which is rumored to prevent infection with Covid-19.
Bloomberg suggested that it was possible that the virus has been spreading more rampantly than the Western media is aware, after China abandoned their strict restriction on the population, and that set off a massive demand for the drug.
Peter Ceretti, a director at Eurasia Group, explained, “It’s likely demand for medicines from China. Larger Italian pharma producers are shipping as much Italian-made product as they can. And perhaps some are moving German and other European Union-produced medicine into Italy for re-export to China too.”
However, the world’s top producer of UDCA, Italian Industria Chimica Emiliana, only has about €300 million ($326 million) in annual sales, which is too low to account for the Chinese imports, the outlet noted. Additionally, China’s import data does not indicate that these pharmaceuticals were delivered in large quantities, according to the article.
Even more puzzling is that the sudden surge in imports by China is occurring as relations between the two countries are cooling off.
According to a report in the Financial Times last week which cited government officials, Italy is looking to hold talks with China about withdrawing from China’s “Belt and Road” (BRI) trade infrastructure and investment project.
In 2019, Italy was the only G7 nation which joined the BRI pact, provoking criticism from both Washington and Brussels.
Last month Bloomberg reported that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni would make an announcement on Italy’s position with regards to renewing its commitment to the BRI in may, ahead of the G7 summit, however the Italian government was still undecided at that point as to whether it would renew, or scrap its participation.
