China, Italy pledge to strengthen bilateral ties

ROME - Top Chinese political advisor Jia Qinglin and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano have vowed to boost bilateral relations between the two countries.

Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), during a meeting with Napolitano on Tuesday first conveyed sincere greetings from President Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Jia Qinglin (R), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, meets with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano (L) in Rome, capital of Italy, Nov 27, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

Both China and Italy are ancient civilized countries, Jia said, adding that the two sides have made continuous progress in communications and cooperation in all fields in recent years.

He said the two countries have maintained frequent high-level exchanges while deepening political mutual trust and achieving fruitful economic results.

The two countries, Jia said, have understood and supported each other on issues of major concerns and have maintained close communications and coordination on international and regional affairs.

Jia said under the new circumstances, reinforcing Sino-Italian relations conforms to the fundamental interests of Italy and China.

China, he said, is willing to work with Italy to maintain close high-level exchanges and deepen cooperation in such areas as science and technology, environmental protection, business and creative design in a bid to better serve the development of both countries and benefit their peoples, he added.

Cultural exchanges, Jia said, play a critical role in state-to-state relations, which also enhance people-to-people ties.

Jia suggested the two countries take the success of holding "Culture Year" in each side as an opportunity to promote exchanges and cooperation in the fields of literature, radio and television, press and publication and heritage conservation, contributing to the world civilization diversity and intercultural exchanges.

Jia also introduced the relevant information and the importance of the recently held 18th National Congress of CPC. He emphasized that the CPC and the Chinese people will continue to emancipate the mind, persist in reform and opening up, steadfastly advance along the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics and keep struggling to build a moderately prosperous society.

For his part, Napolitano asked Jia to convey his cordial greetings and good wishes to Hu and Xi. He spoke highly of the achievements made by China in the past decades, which also accords with the interests of Europe including Italy.

He said Italy has been paying close attention to the 18th National Congress of CPC, which coincided with the critical period of development of China. The congress has promoted a series of important reform measures, which are of great significance to the future of China and the whole world, he added.

Italy is happy to see the continuous reinforcement of Italian-Chinese relations and the enlargement of bilateral pragmatic cooperation, he said.

More and more Italian enterprises are putting their eyes on China, Napolitano said, adding that Italy sincerely hopes that the Italian-Chinese relations will achieve greater development.