Wang Yi (right),member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) CentralCommittee and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of theCPC Central Committee, meets with Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister ofForeign Affairs Antonio Tajani in Rome. (Feb. 16, 2023 - Xinhua/Jin Mamengni)

China is ready to deepen comprehensive strategic cooperation with Italy to take bilateral relations to a higher level, Wang Yi, director of the Foreign Affairs Commission Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said Thursday, Feb. 16.

China attaches great importance to Sino-Italian relations, and the ancient Silk Road connected the two peoples, Wang Yi said during his meeting with Council Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani.

Wang is on his first European tour this year. After France and Italy, he will continue his visits to Hungary and Russia and is expected to deliver a speech at the Chinese session of the upcoming 59th Munich Security Conference.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said China has kept the COVID-19 pandemic under control, achieved strong economic recovery, and orderly resumption of people-to-people exchanges with other countries.

He urged the two countries to resume exchanges and cooperation in various fields and act as soon as possible to compensate for the time lost due to the pandemic.

The signing of the document on joint construction of the Belt and Road between China and Italy has greatly elevated the strategic level of bilateral relations, Wang said.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the country, China and Italy signed a memorandum of understanding in Rome in 2019 to jointly advance the construction of the Belt and Road.

The two sides can tap the potential of cooperation in the green and digital sectors and third-party markets and push for more positive results in China-Italy relations, Wang said.

He said that China is ready to import more quality products from Italy, support Italian companies in expanding their share in the Chinese market, and hope Italy will provide a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies.

Until October 2022, China was Italy's largest trading partner in Asia, while Italy was China's fourth largest trading partner in the European Union, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

China appreciates Italy's status and influence in the international arena and is ready to work with it to safeguard the central position of the United Nations (UN), uphold the norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, defend and practice multilateralism and promote democracy in international relations and economic globalization, Wang said.

Tajani said Italy and China enjoy a long-term friendly relationship.

In the face of the new circumstances of the post-pandemic era, Italy looks forward to resuming the bilateral cooperation mechanism with China as soon as possible, organizing the 11th Italy-China Joint Government Committee Meeting and the Joint Commission Meeting of the two countries for economic and trade cooperation soon, strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields.

Europe and China are important markets for each other, and the two sides should strengthen cooperation, promote mutual investment, and expand trade, Tajani said.

The Italian side attaches importance to international affairs, such as the reform of the UN Security Council, and is willing to strengthen coordination with China, he added.

The two sides exchanged in-depth views on the Ukraine issue. Wang stressed that China has always been committed to promoting peace talks on the issue.

He said that the more complicated the situation, the more it is necessary to maintain political and diplomatic efforts to find a solution acceptable to all sides.

Tajani expressed his appreciation that China has always been on the side of peace and expressed willingness to strengthen cooperation with China and make joint efforts to promote peace talks.

（This article is translated from http://www.italian.people.cn/n3/2023/0217/c416705-10209416.html）