Italian president tours Summer Palace in Beijing

Italian President Sergio Mattarella toured the Summer Palace in Beijing on Thursday, after arriving in China earlier in the day for a six-day state visit at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The once imperial garden, located in the western suburb of Beijing, is the first place the Italian president visited on his first trip to China since February 2017.

He was accompanied by his daughter Laura and several Italian ministerial officials.

During the nearly one-hour trip, Mattarella learned about stories in China's history and garden landscaping in the long corridor, climbed atop the Longevity Hill to explore similarities and differences between Chinese and Italian religious cultures, and took a cruise to enjoy the sunset over the Kunming Lake.

China and Italy both have ancient civilizations. The mutual attraction between them has become precious wealth for both sides and continues to this day.

Mattarella also said earlier that promoting the exploration of the potential of the cultural and creative industries of Italy and China could bring fruitful results to both sides.

Choosing the Summer Palace as the first stop of the Italian president's visit to China also shows Italy's willingness to deepen cooperation with China in cultural heritage protection.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the China-Italy comprehensive strategic partnership.

In July, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited China. In less than half a year, two important Italian politicians have visited China successively, highlighting the high level of development of China-Italy relations.

The two countries expect to take the opportunity to further expand practical cooperation and people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

The Summer Palace is the largest and best-preserved imperial garden in China, and among the most noted classical gardens in the world. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.

Italian president tours Summer Palace in Beijing

President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter on Thursday to the inaugural World Conference of Classics, which is scheduled from Wednesday to Friday.

With the theme "Classical Civilizations and the Modern World," the World Conference of Classics, co-sponsored by China and Greece, held its opening ceremony in Beijing on Thursday.

Xi noted that the conference along with the establishment of the Chinese School of Classical Studies in Athens has created a new platform for civilizational exchange and mutual learning for China, Greece and other nations in the world.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou's congratulatory letter was also read out at the ceremony. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay sent a written address on this occasion.

Li Shulei, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, attended the opening ceremony and read out Xi's congratulatory letter.

The conference has drawn over 600 participants, including those from related departments and institutions of China and Greece, and experts, scholars, cultural figures, youth representatives and media professionals from around the world.

Participants at the conference said that the letters of congratulation from Xi and from Sakellaropoulou fully demonstrated the high degree of awareness of China and Greece, as two ancient civilizations, in inheriting their own cultural traditions and promoting exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

They expressed their earnest hope to strengthen classical studies.

The participants said that it is necessary to further activate the great tradition and wisdom contained in the classics which will guide people to effectively cope with various modern challenges, and push human civilization along the right direction.

Xi sends congratulatory letter to inaugural World Conference of Classics