China–Italy relations

In March 2020, Chinese state owned TV channel CGTN and Chinese newspaper Global Times were reported to have attempted to spread a disinformation campaign that the Covid-19 virus may have originated in Italy.[9][10]

On 13 March 2020, China sent medical supplies, including masks and respirators to Italy, together with a team of Chinese medical staff to help Italy fight the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.[11][12][13] These were not donations but rather paid products and services.[14][15] Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte thanked China for its support and assistance.[16] However, in April 2020, it was reported that the PPE kits sold by China to Italy were the same that Italy had earlier donated to China during the initial spread of the Coronavirus in China.[17] [18]

In May 2020, Chinese official spokespeople tweeted videos of Italians chanting "Grazie, Cina" with China's national anthem playing in the background. Analysis of the video revealed the video to be doctored and raised concerns about Chinese propaganda activities in the European Union[19] including urging European officials to heap praise on China[20] and attempts to undermine Europe's response to the crisis and project China and Russia as the only ones with a robust strategy to combat COVID-19.[21]

In March 2019, Italy's parliamentary Comitato parlamentare per la sicurezza della Repubblica (COPASIR), the body of the Italian Parliament to oversee the Italian intelligence agencies raised concerns that Italy joining the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project could present security risks for Italy given that infrastructure, telecoms, finance were all in the BRI agreement package to be signed with China. The chief of COPASIR also raised the concerns of "evaluation of possible risks" in the area of cyber security.[22][23]

Concerns have been raised by the EU and the US over technology transfer and protection of intellectual property of European partners as well as Chinese involvement in Italian telecommunications networks raising fears regarding network security in Europe and the US.[24]

In October 2020, in signs of Italy toughening its stance with respect to communications and network security, the Italian government vetoed a 5G deal between Italian telecom firm Fastweb and China's Huawei.[25] Earlier in July, Italy's largest telecom company Telecom Italia (TIM) had left Huawei out of an invitation to tender for a contract to supply 5G equipment for its core network, where sensitive data was processed.[25]

The Embassy of China is located in Rome, Italy. The Embassy of Italy is located in Beijing, China.

• Foreign relations of Italy
• Europeans in Medieval China, primarily the 13th-14th centuries
• Giovanni de' Marignolli, 14th century Archbishop of Khanbaliq (Beijing)
• Giuseppe Castiglione (Jesuit painter), a court painter for the Qianlong Emperor during the 18th century
• John of Montecorvino, 13th-14th century Archbishop of Khanbaliq (Beijing)
• Katarina Vilioni, 14th-century Italian woman who lived in Yangzhou
• Marco Polo, 13th-century merchant who served as an envoy for the Yuan dynasty
• Matteo Ricci, Jesuit missionary who arrived in Ming-dynasty China in 1582, created a world map in Chinese and translated texts
• Odoric of Pordenone, Christian missionary to Yuan-dynasty China
• Rabban Bar Sauma, 13th century native of Zhongdu (Beijing) who travelled to Europe and met the pope and various European monarchs
• Sino-Roman relations, Han dynasty and Roman Empire relations beginning at least by 166 AD with Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius (see also Daqin)

• Fardella, Enrico. "A significant periphery of the Cold War: Italy-China bilateral relations, 1949–1989." Cold War History 17.2 (2017): 181–197.
• Maurizio Marinelli, Giovanni Andornino, Italy's Encounter with Modern China
• Maurizio Marinelli, “The Triumph of the Uncanny: Italians and Italian Architecture in Tianjin”, In Cultural Studies Review, Vol. 19, 2, 2013, 70–98.
• Maurizio Marinelli, “The Genesis of the Italian Concession in Tianjin: A Combination of Wishful Thinking and Realpolitik”. Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 15 (4), 2010: 536–556.