Parliamentary exchange "an important component of China-Italy relations"

Parliamentary exchange, as an important component of China-Italy relations, contributes to enhancing mutual understanding and closer ties, Italian Senate President Piero Grasso said Tuesday in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.

Strengthening exchanges between the two countries' legislative bodies and personnel can help enhance mutual learning and find solutions to problems currently facing the two countries, he said.

Parliamentary exchange, in his view, covers a wide range of fields including economy, global financial governance, security, judiciary, culture, public health, food safety and combating transnational crimes.

Grasso is currently on a visit to China from Dec. 6 to 13, invited by China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang, who is also chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

This visit, as Grasso's first visit to China as President of the Italian senate from 2013, is "an opportunity to deepen exchanges between the two countries' legislative bodies and peoples", he said, as parliamentary exchanges between the two countries play an increasingly important role in the two countries' cooperation.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and China.

"The two sides have great potential for cooperation in a wide range of areas, such as environmental protection, clean energy, sustainable development and innovation," Grasso said.

He also expressed interests with China's Belt and Road initiative and hoped to leverage Italy's unique geographic advantage to play an active role in that initiative. Endite