Rome, March 22 (IANS/AKI) Italy's far-right Interior Minister and Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini said that he will not attend a lunch in Rome with China's President Xi Jinping during his visit to Italy on Friday and Saturday.

"I won't be attending the lunch with Chinese President Xi Jinping as I will be (campaigning) in Basilicata," Salvini told Radio 24 on Thursday.

"League party representatives will be there," he added.

A centre-right alliance including Salvini's League party hopes to triumph in regional polls being held on Sunday in the southern Basilicata region, following centre-right victories in Sardinia and Abruzzo last month.

--IANS/AKI
vd