Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called on China and Italy to carry forward the Silk Road spirit during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Beijing.
“The Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit is a shared treasure of China and Italy,” Xi said.
He emphasized that both nations should uphold and promote this spirit, viewing and developing bilateral relations from a historical dimension, strategic height, and long-term perspective. Xi urged that China and Italy push their relations to go steady and far, as he told Meloni at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing during her official visit.
Highlighting the historical ties, Xi noted that China and Italy are at the two ends of the ancient Silk Road. He said the time-honored friendly exchanges between the two countries have significantly contributed to overall exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations, advancing the progress of humanity.
“Amid accelerating global changes unseen in a century, countries will either progress together through connectivity and unity or retreat separately through closure and division,” Xi stated.
In response, Prime Minister Meloni expressed Italy’s willingness to carry forward the Silk Road spirit. She emphasized developing a closer and higher-level partnership with China to open up a new chapter in the Italy-China comprehensive strategic partnership and contribute to world peace and progress.
“The current international situation has been evolving profoundly, and China, as a major power, has an irreplaceable role in addressing global challenges,” Meloni said, adding that Italy attaches great importance to China’s international status and role.
Both Sides Pledge Enhanced Cooperation
During the meeting, Xi pointed out that China and Italy have complementary industrial advantages and present opportunities to each other. He called for both sides to remain open and enhance cooperation.
“China is ready to work with Italy to upgrade traditional cooperation in trade, investment, industrial manufacturing, science and technology innovation, and third-party markets,” Xi said. He also suggested exploring cooperation in emerging fields such as electric vehicles (EVs) and artificial intelligence (AI).
Xi stressed that in the era of economic globalization, adhering to openness and cooperation in global industrial and supply chains is the only way to achieve win-win development. “China follows a path of peaceful development. It never pursues hegemony and is willing to share development opportunities with all countries,” he added.
He expressed hope that Italy would understand and support China’s development philosophy, playing a constructive role in advancing dialogue and cooperation between China and the European Union (EU), and promoting positive and stable development of China-EU relations.
Prime Minister Meloni reaffirmed Italy’s commitment to the one-China policy. She expressed Italy’s hope to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with China, tap more potential, and deepen bilateral cooperation in economy, trade, investment, EVs, AI, and other areas.
Meloni emphasized the importance of closer people-to-people exchanges and promoting the entry of more Italian products into the Chinese market. “Italy opposes ‘de-coupling’ in global supply chains and protectionism and is willing to play an active role in promoting deeper and more practical relations between the EU and China,” she said.
On Monday, China and Italy also issued a joint action plan to deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership between 2024 and 2027, marking a significant step forward in bilateral relations.
Reference(s):
President Xi: China, Italy should uphold and promote Silk Road spirit
cgtn.com
