On July 6, 2009, Chinese President Hu Jintao met in Rome, Italy with Renato Schifani, President of the Italian Senate.

Hu said that China and Italy, both countries with ancient civilizations, have made outstanding contributions to the progress of world civilization. The friendship between both peoples goes back to ancient times, he said, pointing to the ancient Silk Road linking Asia and Europe and Marco Polo serving as a messenger of exchanges between Eastern and Western civilizations. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1970, bilateral relations have been developing in a sound and stable manner. In particular, the establishment of all-round strategic partnership in 2004 has opened a new chapter for the ties. Currently, both sides have maintained frequent high-level exchanges and solid political trust and they have respected and taken into consideration each other's major concerns. Both sides have conducted fruitful cooperation in the areas of economy, trade, science, technology, education and environmental protection and their cooperation on tourism, new energy, urban construction and logistics enjoys broad prospect.

Hu said China attaches great importance to its ties with Italy, adding that amid the spreading international financial crisis, enhancing friendly cooperation between the two countries not only serves the interests of both sides, but is also conducive to the stable development of China-EU relations. The Chinese president expressed the belief that the Italian Senate would as always promote ties with China and make positive contributions to the long-term, healthy and stable development of the all-round strategic partnership between the two countries.

Hu said the exchange between the legislative bodies of the two countries is an important component of bilateral ties and it is of great significance to building the traditional friendship between the two countries, deepening mutual understanding between both peoples and pushing forward pragmatic cooperation in all areas. A mechanism for regular exchanges has been established between the National People's Congress (NPC) of China and the Italian Senate, he said, expressing the hope that the two sides would set the mechanism in motion soon, carry out regular exchanges, keep closer the contacts between friendship groups and special committees and strengthen coordination in regional and international parliamentary organizations. Both sides can also exchange experience on governing the country.

Schifani expressed warm welcome to President Hu's visit on behalf of the Italian Senate. He said bilateral relations have been deepening since the two countries established the all-round strategic partnership in 2004. Hu's current visit is of great significance to pushing forward bilateral ties. The two countries respect and admire each other in the cultural area, said Schifani, adding that both sides should enhance cultural exchanges. He expressed belief that the "Chinese Culture Year" next year in Italy will be a great success. Schifani said the two countries share identical or similar views on many international issues and expressed the hope that both sides would strengthen cooperation on such issues as reforms of the United Nations and the international financial system, climate change and the fight against terrorism to promote common development of the world. The Italian Senate is ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the NPC of China to start the regular exchange mechanism at an early date.

Wang Huning and Dai Bingguo attended the meeting.