On the evening of November 8, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Italian President Sergio Mattarella met in Beijing with representatives of both sides attending the China-Italy Cultural Cooperation Mechanism Conference and the China-Italy University Presidents Dialogue. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xueren

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, November 8 (Reporters Feng Xinran and Dong Xue) On the evening of November 8, President Xi Jinping and Italian President Mattarella met in Beijing with representatives of both sides attending the China-Italy Cultural Cooperation Mechanism Conference and the China-Italy University Presidents Dialogue.

On the evening of November 8, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Italian President Sergio Mattarella met in Beijing with representatives of both sides attending the China-Italy Cultural Cooperation Mechanism Conference and the China-Italy University Presidents Dialogue. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Haitao

The two heads of state listened to reports from representatives of both sides on China-Italy cultural and university cooperation.

Xi Jinping pointed out that the millennium-long history of friendly exchanges between China and Italy has nurtured the two countries' endless cultural exchanges. The ancient Silk Road pioneered exchanges between the East and the West. Marco Polo opened a window for the Western world to understand China. Generations of envoys have continued to write chapters of friendship between the two countries, setting an example of equal dialogue and common development among different civilizations in the world. In recent years, the China-Italy cultural cooperation mechanism has promoted the two countries to hold cultural and tourism years in each other's countries, pioneered the UNESCO World Heritage Site friendship model, and the two countries' universities have carried out extensive academic and youth exchanges and expanded joint research in emerging disciplines, achieving fruitful results.

Xi Jinping stressed that the world today has entered a new period of turbulence and change. As two ancient civilizations, China and Italy should take action and jointly advocate the use of culture to educate people and virtue to nourish oneself, look at the destiny of mankind with a broad humanistic sentiment, transcend barriers and conflicts with an inclusive mind, and gather development forces with a vision of harmony and coexistence, so that the beacon of civilization can illuminate the right path for mankind to move forward. It is hoped that the two sides will work together to encourage more people of insight to become practitioners of China-Italy friendly cooperation, promoters of mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations, and participants in building a community with a shared future for mankind, and make China-Italy contributions to promoting world peace and development.

Mattarella spoke highly of the important contributions made by the Italian-Chinese cultural cooperation mechanism and the University Presidents' Dialogue to promoting mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation between the Italian and Chinese peoples. He said that both Italy and China are ancient civilizations with splendid cultures, and the peoples of the two countries appreciate and respect each other. The story of Marco Polo's exchanges with China is a reflection of the mutual learning and mutual benefit between Eastern and Western civilizations. The two sides should sum up their experience, inherit friendship, build more bridges for cultural exchanges, strengthen unity, oppose confrontation, and provide a solid foundation and support for the development of the Italy-China comprehensive strategic partnership.

On the evening of November 8, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Italian President Sergio Mattarella met in Beijing with representatives of both sides who attended the China-Italy Cultural Cooperation Mechanism Conference and the China-Italy University Presidents Dialogue. This is a group photo of the two heads of state and the representatives of both sides before the meeting. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shen Hong

Before the meeting, the two heads of state took a group photo with representatives of both sides.

Wang Yi attended the above activities.

Source | Xinhuanet Editor | Liu Xin Please indicate the source for reprinting