Italy, China share a common future to pursue: Italian president
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-12-08 00:04

Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi said here Tuesday that Italy and China not only share a long and glorious past, but also a common future.

The 84-year-old president, who made the remarks while delivering a speech at China's prestigious Qinghua University, showed his confidence in the relationship between Italy and China through elaborating the "common future."

"I am convinced that the future will be built up by relations between our societies and our governments, by cooperation between increasingly more integrated regional areas, and by the development of joint efforts in the multilateral institutions," he said.

Reviewing the long past of the two nations, Ciampi said China and Italy are both the cradle of millenia-old civilizations. Their relationships dates back to ancient times, through contacts between China's Han Dynasty (206 B.C. - 220 A.D.) and eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. It was these contacts that introduced Chinese people to Marco Polo, Matteo Ricci and others.

Ciampi said today Italy and China have made outstanding progress in development and the two countries enjoy strong bilateral ties.

For a long time, China and Italy have share views on many major international issues and have carried out cooperation in many areas, including trade, investment, finance, science and technology, arts and culture, he said.

"Our relationship is build upon mutual understanding and friendship. We would like to further develop the relationship with China and enhance cooperation," he said.

Ciampi, who is on his third trip to China, arrived in Beijing Saturday for a six-day state visit to China, at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

He previously visited China in 1979 and 1993, both as governor of the Central Bank of Italy.

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