Anchor:

A senior Italian official says Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Italy, which starts on Sunday, will pave the way for stronger bilateral ties. Hu Jintao will lead a large business delegation to the European country to seek opportunities of cooperation. Our reporter Shuang Feng has more.

Reporter:

Adolfo Urso is Italy's Vice Minister of Economic Development.

He says Hu Jintao's visit to Italy will be highly important.

"His visit is of historic significance, especially under the current circumstances. In terms of economy, the high-level delegation of Chinese entrepreneurs coming to Italy and upcoming business forums have in a way indicated that bilateral ties will be improved and raised to a higher level."

The delegation is composed of 400 Chinese entrepreneurs.

They'll attend an entrepreneurship forum during their stay in Italy.

Urso says the unfolding economic crisis has had a limited impact on China's economic development. He nots China is leading the world out of the recession.

"It's predicted that the world economy will decline by 2 percent and world trade 13 percent. However, statistics show China's economy is expected to grow by 7 percent. China has been developing an export-oriented economy and encouraging consumption. This is a great opportunity for our country. Italy's exports to China are growing rapidly while its exports to Japan, Germany, Britain and France have shrunk. China's policies have stimulated Italy's exports and also helped improve the world economy."

Italy is China's fifth largest trade partner in the European Union.

Bilateral trade volume stood at nearly 40 billion U.S. dollars last year.

During his visit, the Chiese president will attend a meeting between the leaders of the Group of Eight and emerging economies from Wednesday to Friday in L'Aquila, central Italy.

After the meeting, he will visit Portugal.

Shuang Feng, CRI news.