Chinese President Hu Jintao and his wife
Liu Yongqing wave upon their arrival at Rome, Italy, July 5,
2009. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen) Photo
Gallery>>>
ROME, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao
arrived here Sunday for a state visit, and he will attend the outreach session
of the Group of Eight (G8) summit scheduled for Thursday in the central Italian
city of L'aquila.
In a statement released upon his arrival at the
Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Hu said he is very glad to come to this beautiful
country for a state visit at the invitation of Italian President Giorgio
Napolitano.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (C) is
welcomed by an Italian official upon his arrival at Rome, Italy, July 5,
2009. Hu started a state visit to Italy on Sunday. Hu will also attend the
outreach session of the Group of Eight (G8) summit scheduled for July 9th
in the central Italian city of L'Aquila. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) Photo Gallery>>>
"I believe that under joint effort of both sides,
this visit will be a total success and help advance the all-round strategic
partnership between China and Italy to a new stage," Hu said in the statement.
Noting both China and Italy are countries with a long
history of civilization, Hu said the two peoples enjoy a long-standing
friendship.
"China places great importance on expanding relations
with Italy," Hu said, adding China is ready to join effort with Italy to bring
in an even brighter future of bilateral relations.
Chinese President Hu Jintao is greeted
by a girl upon his arrival at Rome, Italy, July 5, 2009. Hu started a
state visit to Italy on Sunday. Hu will also attend the outreach session
of the Group of Eight (G8) summit scheduled for July 9th in the central
Italian city of L'Aquila. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) Photo Gallery>>>
In Rome, President Hu will meet President Napolitano,
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and other Italian leaders to discuss the
development of bilateral cooperation.
In recent years, the all-round strategic partnership
between China and Italy has witnessed continuous development as political mutual
trust has become deeper and deeper, and cooperation and exchanges in various
fields have expanded rapidly.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (L, front)
waves upon his arrival at Rome, Italy, July 5, 2009. Hu started a state
visit to Italy on Sunday. Hu will also attend the outreach session of the
Group of Eight (G8) summit scheduled for July 9th in the central Italian
city of L'Aquila. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) Photo Gallery>>>
The two countries have maintained close coordination
on world affairs and expanded people-to-people exchanges and cultural
cooperation.
China is now Italy's important trading partner with
the two-way trade totaling 38.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2008 despite the
slowdown of the global economy.
The two countries have also expanded cooperation in
the sectors of economy, culture, science and environmental protection in recent
years.
In L'aquila, the Chinese president will attend the
outreach session of the G8 summit and other meetings.
According to Italy, the host of the 35th G8 summit,
leaders from the G8 and major developing countries will hold talks from
Wednesday to Friday on the world economy, the financial crisis, climate change,
food security, trade and development.
President Hu will attend a group meeting Wednesday
with leaders from India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico. They are expected to
exchange views on the issues of common concern.
At the outreach session of the G8 summit Thursday,
leaders of the G8 nations, China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico, and
Egypt, a special guest of the Italian president, will discuss a number of
pressing issues, such as the world economy, the financial crisis, and
international trade.
This is the sixth time that the Chinese president has
attended the G8 outreach session. The previous one took place in the northern
Japanese resort of Toyako last July.
The G8, an informal forum of leading industrialized
nations, groups Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, the United States,
Canada and Russia.
President Hu will also attend the Major Economies
Forum (MEF) on energy security and climate change Thursday.
Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi described the forum
in L'aquila as a "crucial step in the preparatory work paving the way for the UN
conference in Copenhagen this December."
On Friday, President Hu will join discussions with
leaders of the G8, Brazil, India, South Africa, Mexico and a group of African
nations on aid, food security and progress toward the Millennium Development
Goals.
China expects the outreach session will give "a
strong signal for further cooperation on tackling the financial crisis on the
basis of the G20 summits," said Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei at a
press briefing last week.
"We expect the meeting will help to raise concern on
the impact of the global downturn on development issues and food security,
especially in African countries," He said.
On the sidelines of the G8 outreach session,
President Hu is expected to meet some leaders participating in the event,
including U.S. President Barack Obama, to discuss bilateral ties and the
international issues of common concern.
Hu and Obama met for the first time on April 1 to
discuss bilateral ties, the ongoing global financial storm and other major
issues of common concern when they were attending a Group of 20 summit on the
financial crisis in London.
The G8 has strengthened links and dialogue with
developing countries in recent years. Such a trend has helped advance the
South-North dialogue and cooperation, push forward the development of
multilateralism, and promote the resolution of global issues.
Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi decided to move the
venue of G8 summit from the island of Sardinia to L'aquila, where an earthquake
on April 6 killed 295 people and left over 60,000 people homeless.
The Italian government hopes the shift of the summit
venue could attract more attention to the plight of the victims in L'aquila and
help the devastated city's reconstruction.
Since the end of last year, President Hu has attended
a series of major international conferences on the financial crisis and other
major issues.
He participated in the annual summit of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the first meeting of BRIC (Brazil, Russia,
India and China) leaders in Russia's Ural city of Yekaterinburg in June.
He was present at the G20 financial summit in London
in the beginning of April.
The Chinese president and other leaders from the G20
members also gathered in Washington for a summit on the financial crisis on Nov.
15 last year.
Days later, Hu flew after a Cuba visit to Peru to
attend the Economic Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Cooperation
Organization (APEC) on regional economic issues and the financial crisis.
Other Chinese leaders including Premier Wen Jiabao
have also participated in several international conferences to seek joint
actions with other countries to deal with the crisis.
Premier Wen stressed confidence, cooperation and
responsibility as a key to overcoming the financial storm at the World Economic
Forum's annual meeting in the Swiss skiing resort of Davos in January.
ROME, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Italian President Giorgio
Napolitano praised the relations between Italy and China and China's role in
international affairs during a recent interview with Xinhua ahead of Chinese
President Hu Jintao's visit to Italy.
The Italian president said Italy-China ties have seen
rapid development in recent years, and the mutual understanding and cooperation
between the two countries have also been deepened. Full story
BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu
Jintao left Beijing Sunday for a meeting between the leaders of the Group of
Eight (G8) and five emerging economies (China, India, Brazil, South Africa and
Mexico) from July 8 to 10 in L'Aquila, Italy, at the invitation of Italian Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Hu will also pay state visits to Italy from July 5 to
8 at the invitation of Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and to Portugal from
July 10 to 11 as a guest of Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva. Full story
BEIJING, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The July 9 dialogue
between leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) and emerging economies will focus on
the global downturn and work to boost cooperation between industrialized and
developing countries, a senior Chinese diplomat said here Thursday.
"We expect the 8+5 meeting will give a strong signal
for further cooperation on tackling the financial crisis on the basis of the G20
summits," said vice Foreign Minister He Yafei at a briefing on President Hu
Jintao's schedule. Full story
