Xi's visit to Italy a reminder of historic friendship and trade ties

President Xi Jinping starts a state visit to Italy on Thursday. Ahead of his arrival, President Xi shared his earlier experience visiting Italy with a signed article entitled "East Meets West—A New Chapter of Sino-Italian friendship".

President Xi Jinping. [File photo: Xinhua]

In the article, President Xi said the friendship between Italy and China is rooted in the cultural and trade exchanges along the Silk Road 2,000 years ago, and that these early contacts were the start of a long and close friendship defined by mutual trust. "Through the past decades, our two countries have enjoyed mutual trust and close cooperation regardless of changes in the international landscape," President Xi wrote. "Together, we have set a fine example of mutually beneficial relations between two countries that have different social systems, cultural backgrounds, and stages of development."

Chinese and Italian policemen patrol together at the Bund in east China's Shanghai Municipality, May 2, 2017. [File photo: Xinhua/Fan Jun]

Trade between China and Italy has increased significantly in recent years. Eight years ago, during his visit to Milan on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Italy's unification, President Xi mentioned that Italian investment in China reached 5 billion U.S. dollars and the total value of bilateral trade was more than 45 billion U.S. dollars by 2010. By the end of last year, the total value of bilateral trade reached 50 billion U.S. dollars and the two-way investment reached 20 billion U.S. dollars.

The national flags of China and Italy flying in front of the Tiananmen Rostrum during the visit by Italy's President Sergio Mattarella to Beijing on February 23, 2017. [File photo: IC]

During President Xi's visit, the two sides will propose an expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative with the development of new sea, air, and land trade routes to better link Italy with China. These new routes will help to meet the growing demand for Italian goods in China. "'Made in Italy' is a guarantee of quality, Italian fashion and furniture are immensely popular with Chinese consumers, and pizza and tiramisu are the love of many young Chinese," wrote President Xi.

The cultural ties between China and Italy will also be in focus during President Xi's visit, which is part of the reason why he will visit Palermo, the country's cultural capital. And it's why President Xi made special mention of the cultural ties between the two countries in his letter. "From Martino Martini, author of the first Chinese grammar book in Europe, to Giuliano Bertuccioli and Federico Masini who wrote 'Italy and China', many Italian Sinologists have built bridges between Europe and China and contributed to a long-running boom of China studies on the Apennine Peninsula," he wrote.

An overview of the Amphitheatre and Stadium in Rome, Italy on December 8, 2010. [File photo: VCG]

During the state visit, there will also be a celebration of the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, which looks set to grow in importance in the years to come. As President Xi said in his article, "In a world that faces profound changes of a kind unseen in a century, the onus is on us to bring China-Italy relations to a higher level and to jointly safeguard world peace, stability, development and prosperity."