Italian students vow to promote cultural ties with China

Students from a school in Rome have reacted positively after Chinese President Xi Jinping answered their letter. The President encouraged the students to be "Marco Polo in the new era" and facilitate cultural exchanges between China and Italy.

Students from Convitto Nazionale "Vittorio Emanuele II" in Rome, Italy read the letter they wrote to the Chinese President.[Photo:China Plus]

The Chinese leader's comments are in response to a letter from eight students of Rome Convitto Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II, an Italian boarding school.

On the eve of the President's upcoming state visit to Italy, the students wrote him a letter in Chinese to express their expectations for his visit and their willingness to promote friendship between Italy and China.

Sophomore student Giovanni Stoppoloni has been learning Mandarin in the boarding school for more than four years. Flush with excitement, he read the letter they wrote to the President.

"Dear President Xi, I am glad to hear that you will visit Italy in March. We hope to take this opportunity to share you our experience in learning Chinese and Chinese culture over the years," says Giovanni Stoppoloni.

Xi Jinping said in his letter that he is very pleased to see that the students can express themselves in fluent Chinese.

Giovanni says it is the duty of him and his fellow students to introduce Chinese culture to their Italian peers.

"It is our duty to let people know the cultural differences between China and Italy, especially the young generation. And people should understand that apart from differences, it's more about cultural commonality."

The prestigious boarding school in Italy has an international high school that teaches science-related courses in Mandarin. The school became the first Italian high school to list Mandarin as a compulsory course in 2009.

Principal Paolo Maria Reale says that he is very proud to receive a letter from the Chinese President.

"I feel great honor because I did not expect to receive a reply from President Xi Jinping. We are super excited. He is one of the most important people in the world. He totally understands the beliefs, efforts and dedication behind our career to teach Mandarin. It makes us feel so much happier. We intend to share our successful experience and teaching methods with other schools in Italy that are ready to offer Chinese courses," says Paolo Maria Reale.

The successful teaching methods the Principal mentioned begin with cooperation with the Confucius Institute. The boarding school along with the Confucius Institute of Rome University established a Confucius Classroom in 2010.

Zhang Hong with the university program says that it is necessary to offer Mandarin courses in this science high school.

"Here, we have six to eight teachers every year to teach Mandarin and design courses with two Italian teachers. There are teachers from other Confucian Institutes joining us. We believe that the teaching method which combines literature and science as well as its multilingual design serve as a way to cultivate international youth leaders and multi-cultural talents in the era of globalization," says Zhang Hong.

Xi Jinping will leave for a state visit to Italy on Thursday. The trip will also take him to Monaco and France.