The giant radio halo in Abell 2163

New radio data is presented for the rich cluster Abell 2163. The cluster ra dio emission is characterized by the presence of a radio halo, which is one of the most powerful and extended halos known so far. In the NE peripheral cluster region, we also detect diffuse elongated emission, which we classi fy as a cluster relic. The cluster A2163 is very hot and luminous in X-ray. Its central region is probably in a highly non relaxed state, suggesting t hat this cluster is likely to be a recent merger. The existence of a radio halo in this cluster confirms that halos are associated with hot massive cl usters, and confirms the connection between radio halos and cluster merger processes. The comparison between the radio emission of the halo and the cl uster X-ray emission shows a close structural similarity. A power law corre lation is found between the radio and X-ray brightness, with index =0.64. W e also report the upper limit to the hard X-ray emission, obtained from a B eppoSAX observation. We discuss the implications of our results.