The Studi e Ricerche per il Mezzogiorno (SRM), a research center connected to Intesa Sanpaolo Group,  has dedicated one chapter of its fourth annual report Italian Maritime Economy to analyze the Belt and Road Initiative's positive influence on the Mediterranean shipping and Italy's exports and imports.

The report states that with the increase of China's investment in infrastructure construction along the Belt and Road routes, the ship traffic in the Mediterranean sea is expected to rise 3 percent on average ever year, and the annual traffic capacity will hit 55 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).

The report predicts that if  the cargo handling capacity of Italian ports increases at the same rate, the country's annual throughput capacity will reach 13 million TEUs by 2020.

The number of container cargo ships in the Mediterranean has increased by 21 percent since 2012, and the rise of maritime trade makes Italy a direct beneficiary.

The report says Italy's exports from 2017 to 2020 will increase by 6 billion euros (US$6.8 billion), thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative.