Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Giovanni Tria and Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun reiterated on Wednesday that the two countries will join hands to defend free trade and multilateralism.

The first Italy-China Finance Dialogue, presided by Liu and Tria, takes place months after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Italy and China on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) earlier this year in Rome.

Top financial and business leaders from the two countries, among them China's Vice Minister of Finance Zou Jiayi, discussed the world's macroeconomic situation and global economic governance, Sino-Italian strategic cooperation, financial collaboration and supervision, as well as finance policy exchange and collaboration.

The two sides agreed to improve on the governance of the global economy and enhance collaboration on the financial markets and financial supervision, encourage financial institutions to flourish in each other's markets.

During this dialogue, the two sides vowed to implement the memorandum, supporting the BRI and third-party market projects through financing collaboration.

The two ministers also attended the first Italy-China Financial Forum on Wednesday morning and addressed the press together.