Italian school hails deepening ties with China via Xi’s letter
By Shan Xin
People's Daily app
1560665242000

Beijing (People's Daily) - “President Xi’s reply letter is the best award for the school’s ten-year efforts on offering Chinese instruction,” said Eugenio Poti, consular chancery and visa first secretary at the Embassy of Italy on Friday. 

Poti made the remarks at a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of Chinese language summer camps at Rome Convitto Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II, an Italian boarding school. Opened in 2009, it has the largest Confucius Classroom in Italy and is the first public science high school in Italy to include Chinese as the first foreign language in its compulsory curriculum.

This March, eight students together with the school president Paolo Reale wrote to Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of his state visit to Italy, expressing their sincere anticipation of his arrival and willingness to engage in the work of building China-Italy friendship.

Rome.jpg

Paolo M. Reale (1st R, back), president of Rome Convitto Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II, an Italian boarding school, and students who wrote to Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a photo in Rome, Italy, March 18, 2019. (File photo: Xinhua)

In the letter, the students said they have been able to gain a better understanding of China through the Confucius Classroom, further appreciating the vastness of the world and the value of cultural diversity.

President Xi replied to the letter and said he expected them to be Marco Polos in our new era. Xi welcomed the students to come to study and work in China, saying he hopes China will be the place where their dreams come true. 

“The letter encourages us to become future ambassadors of relationship between Italy and China, and welcomes us to follow and to pursue our dreams in China,” said Rachele Vetrano, a student from the school. “It gives me the framework and the passion to study the language and to know the Chinese culture, and I will continue to protect the relationship between the two nations.”

“I am looking forward to studying in or moving to China”, said Vetrano. “I appreciate its culture.”

ceremony.JPG

Students hold posters saying “Long live the Sino-Italian friendship” at a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of Chinese language summer camps at Rome Convitto Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II in Beijing on Friday, June 14, 2019 (Photo: Provided by Confucius Institute)

According to Poti, the school wants the students to learn every aspect of China and experience its attractions beyond the language, so they invite students a two-week camp in Beijing every summer. 

“Italy, which has just joined the Belt and Road (Initiative), has led and served as a model for other European countries in cooperation on culture and people-to-people exchanges with China. We highly endorse the ideas of sustainable development and community with a shared future for mankind advocated by President Xi and we would like to cultivate world citizens and make our own contributions for the peaceful and prospective development of the world,” said Poti. 

“Ten years ago, with strategic and forward-looking vision, we chose teaching Chinese,” said Francesco Alario, head of the Confucius Classroom at the school. “And now the far-off dreams seemed to have been realized.”

“It’s lucky for the students here to start learning Chinese at the right age. They are walking at the at the forefront of the game, and I hope they can carry on our dreams and run further and further,” said Alario.