China's president Xi Jinping was due to arrive in Rome amid a security lockdown on Thursday for a three-day official visit to Italy aimed at strengthening political, cultural and commercial ties between the two countries. He is travelling with a delegation containing over 500 people.
Xi will stay in Rome's upscale Parco dei Principi hotel near the Villa Borghese and is due to to hold talks on Friday with Italy's president Sergio Mattarella, lower house of parliament speaker Roberto Fico, Senate speaker Elisabetta Casellati.
On Saturday, Xi will meet Italy's populist premier Giuseppe Conte. A ceremony to mark the signing of a series of accords will be attended by Italian ministers and their Chinese counterparts after a handshake in front of the cameras by Conte and Xi, Conte's office said.
According to diplomatic protocol, there will be no joint press declarations after the ceremony, the statement noted.
In an article published in leading Italian daily Corriere della Sera on the eve of his visit to the eurozone's third largest economy Xi said China was ready to strengthen its "global strategic partnership" with Italy and enter "a new era" of bilateral relations.
During Xi's visit to Rome, the Italian government plans to sign a preliminary accord on China's new Silk Road - the Belt and Road initiative, a multi-billion-dollar project that includes rail, road and port projects , Conte announced last week.
The BRI accord will lift Italy's exports while safeguarding its strategic assets but carries no binding obligations and does not signal wider cooperation between Beijing and Rome, Conte claimed.
The planned accord has alarmed the US and Italy's European Union partners, who are wary of China's ambitions.
