Italian President Sergio Mattarella arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a state visit to China from Nov. 7 to 12 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During President Mattarella's visit, President Xi will hold talks with him to draw a blueprint for the future development of China-Italy relations. Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji will meet with him respectively, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced earlier.
China and Italy, both ancient civilizations and important economies in the world, enjoy solid public support for bilateral friendly cooperation, which is in line with the common interests of both sides and contributes to the healthy development of China-Europe relations and global stability and prosperity, the ministry said.
Noting that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Italy comprehensive strategic partnership, the ministry said the successive visits by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Mattarella to China highlight the high-level development of China-Italy relations.
China is willing to work with Italy, under the guidance of the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, to further deepen political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, promote mutual learning among civilizations, and inject more stability into a world fraught with uncertainties, the ministry added.
Italian president arrives in China for state visit
Italian president arrives in China for state visit
Spain has commenced a changing work to recover from the devastations of a deadly flood that claimed at least 217 lives over the past week.
Valencia and its surrounding provinces maintained a state of alert for continued rainfall on Wednesday. Official reports indicated that as of Wednesday, the floods had claimed the lives of at least 127 individuals, with 89 others still remaining unaccounted for.
The preliminary data released by the Spanish government said that the economic loss caused by the floods has exceeded ten billion euros, posing significant challenges for the ongoing reconstruction efforts.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Tuesday announced Valencia as a disaster area. The Spanish government has dispatched 15,000 police officers and soldiers for rescue and reconstruction work. In addition, an aid package totaling 10.6 billion euros has been initiated to guarantee local residents’ welfare and reconstruction efforts. The government also announced a series of economic subsidies to affected enterprises in a bid to alleviate the hardships faced by them.
Thousands of volunteers are providing essential supplies and medical aid for the disaster area. Non-governmental organizations have also set up temporary rescue stations to provide shelter and psychological support for the affected people.
"Many people lost everything in the floods. My car was swept away. Some of my friends now have lost everything. We have large amounts of rescue equipment and we are recovering from the disaster. Everyone is trying hard to contribute to rebuilding our hometown," said Francisco, a volunteer.
Transportation services within Valencia have resumed, and the airport has resumed normal operations. However, the expressway connecting Madrid and Valencia sustained significant damage and is expected to remain closed to the public for another week.
Both water and power supplies have been restored, marking a crucial step forward in the recovery process.
Some European Union countries have already expressed willingness to offer humanitarian aid to Spain.
Spain starts to recover from flood devastations
