Italian president's China visit heralds improvement in ties

Editor's note: Fabio Massimo Parenti, a special commentator for CGTN, is an associate professor of International Studies at China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing, and a member of various think tanks. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

The goal of Italian President Sergio Mattarella's six-day state visit to China is to give a new and definitive continuity to the relations between Italy and China. Coming after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's visit four months ago, it further stresses the importance of both nations' pragmatic cooperation in an international environment shaken by tensions of all kinds. Italy and the European Union need China and vice versa; this visit is a symptom of this necessity, in spite of the U.S. and its allies' Cold War mentality, and observers as well as businesspeople think the two visits will lead to enhanced bilateral cooperation. 

Italy's shift towards stronger ties with China comes during the 20th anniversary of the China-Italy comprehensive strategic partnership, the 700th anniversary of the death of the famous Italian explorer Marco Polo who traveled to China along the ancient Silk Road, and at a time when the United States has been urging its allies to stay away from China. 

In concrete terms, Mattarella's visit will promote pragmatic cooperation between Italy and China in various fields, from culture to the economy, and facilitate people-to-people exchanges. The friendship between China and Italy is characterized by a long history of cultural exchanges, which have facilitated mutual understanding and practical cooperation in many other fields.

A solid and stable China-Italy relationship is in the interests of both countries and peoples, and contributes to exchanges between civilizations and mutual learning. The Chinese Foreign Ministry, stressing that both China and Italy are ancient civilizations and important economies in the world, said that friendly cooperation between the two countries enjoys deep public support, serves the common interests of both sides and helps promote healthy growth of China-EU relations and stability and prosperity in the world.

Mattarella's visit comes amid trade tensions between China and the EU. China has filed a lawsuit against the EU's final ruling on the anti-subsidy case against Chinese-made electric vehicles at the World Trade Organization. Mattarella will formalize Italy's new diplomatic role for win-win cooperation, to serve as a bridge between the reluctant EU and China.

In the past 20 years, trade between China and Italy has grown from $10 billion to over $70 billion, and China has become Italy's largest trading partner in Asia. According to Chinese customs data, the value of Chinese imports from Italy in the first half of this year was $15.5 billion, up 14 percent from the previous year, while exports to Italy reached $27.0 billion, up 17 percent from the previous year.

Given the complementarity between the structure and development stage of the Italian and Chinese economies, Italy has great potential to increase its exports to and investments in the Chinese market. In particular, its high-tech and advanced products, food products and high-end consumer goods have great potential. And it has every reason to deepen cooperation with China in pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, green technology and electric mobility – toward a future of peace, win-win cooperation and global development.

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