SONG CHEN/CHINA DAILY 

Italian President Sergio Mattarella's state visit to China less than four months after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited the country underscores the importance both countries attach to bilateral relations. 

While during Meloni's visit, the two countries signed a 2024-27 action plan for strengthening their comprehensive strategic partnership and fostering pragmatic cooperation across various fields, Mattarella's six-day visit, which concludes on Tuesday, focused on reinforcing the traditional friendship and political trust between the two countries, apart from expanding cultural exchanges. 

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Italy, as well as the 700th anniversary of the death of Marco Polo, a pioneer of cultural exchanges between the two countries. 

Despite the massive geographical distance between them, China and Italy share a long history of friendly exchanges, with Marco Polo's visit to China fueling the West's interest in China and prompting a wave of Western missionaries to travel to the country. Among those missionaries was 16th-century Italian missionary Matteo Ricci, who introduced Western learning to China. The interactions between Chinese and European scholars and statesmen since then have fostered mutual respect, mutual trust and mutual understanding between China and European countries. 

Since establishing diplomatic relations in 1970, China and Italy have been promoting cooperation, and maintaining a stable relationship based on mutual respect and equality. The smooth development of bilateral relations prompted the two sides to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2004. 

That China and Italy respect each other's core interests and major concerns is evidenced in their deepening political trust, efficient economic cooperation and vibrant cultural exchanges. In fact, Sino-Italian relations have become a model of comprehensive cooperation between countries that have different social systems and cultures, and are at different stages of development. 

China and Italy have supported each other in times of difficulty. In the 1980s, Italy was one of the European countries that provided the most development aid to China. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries exchanged messages, with the governments and peoples of the two countries providing substantial support for each other. 

At their meeting on Friday, President Xi Jinping said Mattarella is a good friend of the Chinese people, and such meetings and interactions deepen the two countries' friendship and mutual trust. 

During his six-day visit, Mattarella attended numerous cultural exchange programs. This included visiting the Summer Palace, visiting an exhibition related to Marco Polo, and attending a concert featuring Chinese and Italian artists performing the works of the Italian composer Puccini. 

These are important because cultural and people-to-people exchanges not only deepen the traditional friendship between countries and their peoples but also lay a solid foundation for deepening cooperation. 

When meeting with representatives of the China-Italy cultural cooperation organization and attending the discussions of university presidents, Mattarella said the story of Marco Polo's stay in China and his exchanges with Emperor Kublai Khan and Chinese scholars laid the foundation of mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations. Hence, China and Italy should carry forward their traditional friendship, and build more bridges for people-to-people exchanges so as to support the development of a comprehensive strategic partnership between Italy and China. 

Mattarella's visit to China sends a positive message to Europe, in fact, the West as a whole, about Italy's commitment to strengthening dialogue and fostering stable, friendly relations with China. In his talks with President Xi, Mattarella emphasized that Italy sees eye to eye with China on major global issues, is opposed to protectionism and advocates for open and constructive communication to deal with common challenges. 

As major representatives of Eastern and Western civilizations, China and Italy bear the responsibility to promote mutual understanding and mutual learning between civilizations, maintaining global peace and stability, and using strategic foresight to address global challenges including climate change. 

It is to be hoped that Mattarella's visit will open a new chapter in China-Italy cooperation and set a positive example for China-Europe relations. 

Sun Yanhong, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of European Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).                

The article was originally published in China Daily on November 12, 2024.