The Bridge Meets 70 Years of Friendship between China and Italy

Tianjin, May 22 (Xinhua) -- A Bridge Meets 70 Years of Friendship between China and Italy

Xinhua News Agency reporters Li Kun and Song Rui

Let's take a look at what's on the other side of the Great Wall. As long as we see it with our own eyes, we will find spring there

Whenever they read the writings of the famous Italian politician and jurist Piero Caramandere, Yang Lin, the head of the Italian Department at Nankai University's School of Foreign Languages, and Italian teacher Le Xiaoyue are always excited.

In 1955, although China and Italy had not yet established diplomatic relations, Caramandere led a delegation of experts from different fields such as jurists, philosophers, architects, and zoologists to form an Italian cultural delegation and arrived in the ancient yet young New China.

Just like a few hundred years ago, Marco Polo's travelogue sparked a "China fever" in the West. After visiting Beijing, Shenyang, Fushun, Shanghai, Hangzhou and other places and returning to Italy, the delegation members published a large number of articles introducing the real China.

Among them, the most influential was the special issue "Today's China" launched by the magazine "Bridge" edited by Caramandere, which covered the politics, economy, culture, society and other aspects of New China, becoming a window for the Italian people to understand New China at that time.

In May 2025, 70 years later, the book "The Bridge of Sino Italian Friendship: Today's China" written by members of the Italian cultural delegation in 1955, edited by Yang Lin and Le Xiaoyue, was officially released at the Cultural Center of the Italian Embassy in China. Selected articles from that year's special issue were translated into Chinese and re edited with precious pictures of the delegation's visit to China in 1955, completing the dialogue of this "bridge" spanning 70 years of time and space.

Sinologist Jia Yihua is the granddaughter of Karamandere, who lived and studied in China during her childhood. She made a special trip to China to attend the book launch event and shared her beautiful memories about cultural exchanges between China and Italy on site. This is not only a bridge connecting distant memories with the present, but also an important milestone that marks the close connection between China and Italy through different stages of their relationship

Yang Lin believes that "China Today" is a valuable cultural heritage left by Kalamandrei, and it is still promoting cultural exchanges between China and Italy, enhancing mutual understanding between the two peoples, and promoting people to people connectivity.

Opening this Chinese book, many Italian visitors' descriptions of China from 70 years ago have become a reality today, like prophecies.

"China will become more and more important, and China will become more and more important to the development of the world. Therefore, understanding the Chinese people is first and foremost a responsibility, which is related to our existence as civilized people, our ability to live in modern culture, and whether we can understand the development law of the modern history of the nation." Antonello Trombardoli, an Italian art critic, said in his article.

On May 8th, sinologist Jia Yihua spoke at the press conference of his new book "The Bridge of Sino Italian Friendship: Today's China" written by a member of the Italian cultural delegation in 1955. Shen Jizhong 

Looking back, that visit sowed the seeds of friendship between the two countries, which grew over time and bore the fruit of establishing diplomatic relations between China and Italy in 1970.

The delegation is dedicated to communicating between two different civilizations and is undoubtedly a 'bridge'. Le Xiaoyue, who has lived in China for 12 years, believes that these articles are still telling stories of friendship and hope to Chinese and Italian readers, which is the value of translating this book.

The translation process is full of hardships, but Yang Lin and Le Xiaoyue have always enjoyed it because they also undertake an important mission - to cultivate more "new bridges" for cultural exchanges between China and Italy.

15 students joined in and translated and organized according to their interests and hobbies. Translating from Italian to Chinese language structure and achieving the effect of faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance requires repeated polishing and modification. As translators, we are honored to be a bridge connecting the book "Today's China" with China today, allowing the fruits of friendship and wisdom to spread more widely, "said student Wang Yifei.

After more than 4 years, this book, which can "bridge" the long history of China Italy friendship, is once again presented to readers on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"This book continues the spirit of the Italian cultural delegation's visit to China 70 years ago and builds a bridge of understanding between the two peoples," said Messina, the cultural commissioner of the Italian Embassy in China.

The book is published by Tianjin People's Publishing House. Yan Guodong, Dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Nankai University, believes that both China and Italy are ancient civilizations with a long history of cultural exchanges. The publication of "The Bridge of Friendship between China and Italy" is a continuation of the historical mission of scholars in the new era.

The current great changes in the world that have not been seen in a century are accelerating, and the East and the West, especially China and Europe, China and Italy, are facing a critical moment where they need to have a correct understanding of each other and move towards each other, "said Luo Hongbo, a researcher at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and president of the Italian Research Branch of the Chinese European Society.

There is a western saying that "all roads lead to Rome". Lao She, a famous Chinese writer, wrote in the opening dedication of the special issue of Bridge that year: "There is a great road between Rome and Beijing, that is, the friendship between the Chinese and Italian people!"