00:23
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published on Wednesday a signed article by Chinese President Xi Jinping titled "East Meets West — A New Chapter of Sino-Italian Friendship" ahead of his state visit to the European country.
He quoted the well-known Italian writer Alberto Moravia, saying, "Friendships are not chosen by chance, but according to the passions that dominate us.”
"China and Italy are both stellar examples of Eastern and Western civilization, and both have written splendid chapters in the history of human progress," the article said.
A key concept representing the cultural bonds between the two countries is the Silk Road. According to the article, over 2,000 years ago, China and ancient Rome were already connected by the Silk Road.
Another Italian household name is Marco Polo, as the famous explorer's Travels aroused the first wave of "China fever" among European countries.
As countries with the largest number of UNESCO world heritage sites, China and Italy have many cultural and tourism resources. "We encourage our world heritage sites to forge twinning relationships and our cultural institutions and individuals to organize premium relic and art exhibits," Xi said in the article.
To promote cultural exchanges, "Both sides may also encourage co-production of films and TV programs, the teaching of each other's languages, as well as more mutual travel and visits," said the article.
As key trading and investment partners, China and Italy have deeply intertwined interests. Bilateral trade exceeded $50 billion in 2018 and investment surpassed $20 billion.
"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.
The areas of cooperation that have cooperation potential include ports, logistics, ship-building, transportation, energy, telecommunications and medicine.
The two countries have also cooperated in satellite R&D and manned space exploration, science and technology projects, joint police patrols and football training.
Under the Belt and Road Initiative, both sides can align connectivity under the initiative with Italy's InvestItalia program and plans to develop its northern ports, and jointly build the Belt and Road of the new era on water, land, in the air, in space and in the cultural domain.
For more highlights of the article, click on the video.
(Produced by Zhao Dantong and Han Xiaomeng. Video resource: BBC, the documentary of The Chinese Silk Road, The Confucius institute at the university of Rome, v.163.com, MODEYES, LAFODIA, China.org.cn, Xinhua news agency, Feng Xuejun and other websites.)
