Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said here that the Italian government has adopted a new set of political, economic and cultural strategies in dealing with China, in an effort to shape Italy into Europe's gateway to the East.

Prodi, who will visit China on Sept. 13-18 with a grand delegation of political and business officials, revealed the move during an exclusive interview with Chinese media based in Italy on Monday.

Terming his Chinese trip as "particularly important," Prodi said that during the trip, he is going to bring to China a set of brand-new political, economic and cultural strategies his government has adopted towards China.

"China is a friend of Italy, and we hope Italy will further become Europe's gateway to the East," said Prodi, adding his delegation "is the biggest institutional and business mission ever organized by Italy to China."

The premier will be accompanied by four ministers, one junior minister and three undersecretaries plus representatives of 12 of Italy's 20 regions and over 700 business leaders.

Asked about his personal feelings about the trip, the center-left leader called himself as an old friend of the Chinese people, and said he rejoiced at the opportunity by which he would be able to get a more comprehensive glimpse of China, a country which, with its robust growth and dynamic development in recent years, has become one of the world's most important players.

Prodi, once an economist, viewed China's growth rate as stunning, but he also expressed the hope that the upward trend would be sustained, which would in turn promote the development of the world as a whole.

Through the development of science and technology and political cooperation, China's rapid growth would contribute to a more balanced development of the world, Prodi said.

On the Italy-China economic and trade ties, Prodi said although some disputes existed between the two sides, the overall relations were developing in a positive direction, with both sides sharing a common goal of raising bilateral trade volume to a higher level.

Italy has established many joint ventures in China, and it hoped its Chinese counterparts could invest more in Italy, Prodi said, adding that Italy would help promote the development of the Europe-China economic and trade relations by participating in China's historic economic construction.

On the Europe-China relations, the former European Commission chief said China has become the European Union (EU)'s second largest trading partner, and also cooperated with the EU in some other areas.

Dialogue between the two sides should be further enhanced to facilitate the settlement of some sensitive issues, like human rights and weapons embargo, he added.

During his China tour, Prodi will make five stops at the cities of Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin and Beijing. In Beijing, he will hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on various issues of common concern.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2006)