| He urged the two countries to take the opportunity of the inking of the intergovernmental MoU on jointly building the Belt and Road to strengthen the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with Italy's plan to develop its northern ports and the InvestItalia program, and promote mutually beneficial cooperation in all fields. The two countries should increase convergence of interests, optimize and upgrade their cooperation, and achieve more early results in priority areas such as space technology, infrastructure construction, transport, environment and energy, Xi said. China and Italy should also strengthen communication and coordination on macroeconomic policy and jointly push forward third-market cooperation in such fields as energy, finance and infrastructure construction, he said. Xi urged the two countries to take the opportunity of the culture and tourism year, to be held in each other's country in 2020, to forge friendly bonds of their world heritage sites and increase exchanges and cooperation between their museums, at local levels, and in sports and other sectors. China and Italy should also join hands in advocating trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, continue to strengthen communication on major issues such as the United Nations affairs, WTO reform, climate change and global governance, and safeguard multilateralism together, he said. The Chinese president noted that China sticks to further opening up and welcomes Italian and other countries' enterprises to invest and start business in China. "We also encourage Chinese enterprises, especially high-tech companies, to invest and develop in Italy, and regard Italy as an important partner in cooperation on science and technology innovation," Xi told Conte. The Chinese government has always encouraged Chinese enterprises to conduct overseas cooperation according to business principles and international rules, and on the basis of abiding by local laws, Xi said, urging the Italian government to continue to provide good business environment for Chinese investors. Calling China and the European Union (EU) constructors of world peace, contributors to global development and protectors of international order, Xi said the two sides should follow the trend of the times featuring a world of multi-polarization and economic globalization, and push for the construction of an open world economy. He urged the two sides to accelerate the negotiations on a China-EU investment agreement, enhance the synergy of the BRI and the EU's development strategies, and boost communication and coordination on major international and regional issues. | 
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