On July 6, 2009, Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome.
Hu said that we are glad to see the sound development momentum of the China-Italy all-round strategic partnership. The political basis of bilateral relations is further consolidated and the bilateral communication channels in various sectors remain smooth. The bilateral ties enjoy an ever closer link of interests and the mutual investment grows vigorously. The two sides have achieved fruitful outcomes of cooperation in such fields as science and technology, environmental protection, education and tourism. The social basis of bilateral relations gets cemented and the friendly exchanges between the people have laid down a firm foundation for the development of bilateral ties. Italy is China's all-round strategic partner and a reliable friend within the EU. China attaches great importance to the relations with Italy, and it is an unwavering principle of China to further strengthen such relations. Next year will mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China-Italy diplomatic ties. We are willing to make joint efforts with Italy to unswervingly promote the progress of bilateral relations, reinforce the communications and coordination on major international and regional issues,steadily push forward the mutually beneficial cooperation in all sectors and lift the China-Italy comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.
He raised the following suggestions on strengthening the pragmatic cooperation between China and Italy.
First, both sides should take the opportunity of tackling the international financial crisis to deepen trade and economic cooperation. The Chinese and the Italian government authorities should continue to support and facilitate the trade and economic exchanges between businesses of the two countries, especially offer policy support in terms of financing and guarantee for the cooperation of SMEs and encourage the expansion of strategic cooperation in the fields of telecommunication, infrastructure construction, automobile industry and logistics. Trade and investment protectionism must be opposed resolutely and trade frictions and differences solved appropriately through consultations and dialogue.
Second, China and Italy should broaden cooperation with the purpose of promoting their economic and social development. Both countries should review comprehensively their cooperation in the fields of science, technology and environmental protection and deepen the technological cooperation on energy efficiency, emission reduction and new energy. Meanwhile, potential should be further tapped to cultivate new bright spots of bilateral cooperation, such as visual media and creative design. The bilateral cooperation in other areas including tourism, traditional Chinese medicine research, disease control and disaster prevention and reduction should be enhanced.
Third, humanities exchanges should be reinforced on the platform of the Year of Chinese Culture held in Italy. It is hoped that both sides work closely together and make careful preparations to ensure the success of the Year of Chinese Culture event held in Italy in 2010. The bilateral exchanges and cooperation on the World Expo should be enhanced; continuous efforts should be made to well run the Confucius Institute; the contacts of young students and at local levels should be cemented; the public opinion basis of bilateral relations should be consolidated constantly.
Berlusconi expressed full agreement on Hu's comments and suggestions on the bilateral relations. He noted that both Italy and China are ancient civilizations and enjoy a long history. He's glad to see the stable development of bilateral relations in recent years. In particular, the bilateral cooperation has continued moving forward despite of the impact of the international financial crisis. Italy is willing to join hands with China to strengthen cooperation in tourism and other fields and ensure the success of celebrations on the 40th anniversary of Italy-China diplomatic ties. He said that China plays an important role in the international community. The settlement of all the major international issues requires the participation of China. Holding many consensuses on the international arena and in the international affairs, Italy and China should step up coordination and collaboration. Italy admires the proposition of China on building a harmonious world and wants to continue to increase cooperation with China on multilateral occasions including the G8-developing countries dialogue. Italy appreciates the effective measures China has taken to cope with the international financial crisis.
The two leaders also exchanged opinions on such issues as coping with the international financial crisis, stimulating the world economic recovery, fighting against climate change and promoting the Doha Round negotiations.
Following the meeting, Hu and Berlusconi attended the signing ceremony of bilateral cooperation documents and jointly received the interview of journalists.
Wang Huning and Dai Bingguo were also present at the above activities.