BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Beijing on Monday.

Noting that China and Italy are at the two ends of the ancient Silk Road, Xi said the time-honored friendly exchanges between the two countries have made significant contributions to the overall exchanges and mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations, and to the progress of humanity.

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The Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit is a shared treasure of China and Italy, Xi said.

He said that amid accelerating global changes unseen in a century, countries will either progress together through connectivity and unity, or retreat separately through closure and division. 

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China and Italy should uphold and promote the Silk Road spirit, view and develop bilateral relations from a historical dimension, strategic height and long-term perspective, and push their relations to go steady and far.