Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi kicked off his six-day official visit to China yesterday with a large delegation of politicians, entrepreneurs and bankers.

He arrived in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province yesterday afternoon, the first stop of his tour, which will also lead him to Guangzhou, Shanghai and Tianjin.

His trip will end in the Chinese capital Beijing, where the centre-left leader will hold talks with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.

The development of the northern port city of Tianjin near Beijing is expected to be high on the agenda in the talks between Prodi and Wen.

Observers consider Prodi's China visit as a part of Rome's new quest to improve political relations with Beijing and search for business opportunities in the fast-growing economy.

Speaking to Chinese media prior to the visit, Prodi said the Italian Government has adopted a new set of political, economic and cultural strategies in dealing with China, in an effort to shape Italy into Europe's gateway to the East.

Prodi said he plans to turn Italy into "the door to the East" with a plan that includes expanding Italy's business presence in China and attracting Chinese investment into the euro zone's third-largest economy.

Terming his delegation "the biggest institutional and business mission ever organized by Italy to China," the premier will be accompanied by four ministers, one junior minister and three undersecretaries plus representatives of 12 of Italy's 20 regions and more than 700 business leaders.

Prodi, once an economist, viewed China's growth rate as stunning, but he also expressed the hope that the upward trend would be sustained, which would in turn promote the development of the world as a whole.

On Italy-China economic and trade ties, Prodi said although some disputes existed between the two sides, the overall relations have been developing in a positive direction, with both sides sharing a common goal of raising bilateral trade volume.

A total of 1,428 Italian companies are currently present in China and more than 80 per cent of them are large-sized ones.

On Europe-China relations, the former European Commission chief said China has become the European Union (EU)'s second largest trading partner, and also co-operated with the EU in some other areas.

Dialogue between the two sides should be enhanced to facilitate the settlement of some sensitive issues, such as human rights and the weapons embargo, he added.

Source: China Daily