China–Italy relations

Bilateral relations between China and Italy date back to Imperial China and Ancient Rome but the ties between Italy and modern China only formally began on 27 November 1928 (began in 1913) and recognized the People's Republic on 6 November 1970. News of Italy's recognition of the People's Republic of China and consequent breaking of formal relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) spurred other European countries such as Austria and Belgium to consider similar moves.

Italian Foreign Minister Pietro Nenni presented the proposal for the recognition of China in January 1969. The Italian Communist Party had invited Chinese Communist Party (CCP) representatives to attend their 1969 party congress; however, the Chinese side declined the invitation. The two countries exchanged ambassadors in February of the following year.

Currently, China and Italy participate in high-level political exchanges. In September 2005, Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan and Italian Deputy Defense Minister Salvatore Cicu expressed their hope for closer military cooperation between the two countries.

Hongdu Aviation, one of China's major aircraft manufacturers, was first established as Sino-Italian National Aircraft Works (SINAW) in 1934, as a joint venture between the Republic of China and the Kingdom of Italy. However, after the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, Italy became an ally of Japan and assisted Japan in its bombing of SINAW factories. The Chinese government confiscated Italian properties in December 1937 and all Italian employees of the company left by the end of the year. On March 24, 2019, Italy signed up to the Belt and Road Initiative, becoming the first G7 nation to do so.

Chinese people in Italy, comprising both recent immigrants as well as persons of Chinese descent born in Italy, form a significant minority especially in Lombardy, Tuscany, and Lazio.

The Roman historian Florus describes the visit of numerous envoys, including Seres (Chinese or central Asians), to the first Roman Emperor Augustus, who reigned between 27 BC and 14. However, Henry Yule speculated that these were more likely to have been private merchants than diplomats, since Chinese records insist that Gan Ying was the first Chinese to reach as far west as Tiaozhi (條支; Mesopotamia) in 97 AD. In 97 the Chinese general Ban Chao dispatched an envoy to Rome in the person of Gan Ying. Gan Ying never made it to Rome. He might have reached the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, although he most likely went no further than the Persian Gulf. Monk turned diplomat Rabban Bar Sauma traveled from Beijing to Rome in the 1280s. Andalò da Savignone, an Italian resident in the small Genoese colony in Zaytun, was sent by the Khans from Beijing to Italy as a diplomat to the pope in 1336. Chinese diplomats have been active in Italy since the time of the Qing dynasty and just a few decades after the Unification of Italy. The Qing dynasty diplomat Li Fengbao was ambassador to Italy in the late 19th century, as were his contemporaries Kung Chao-Yuan, Xue Fucheng and Xu Jingcheng. The Republic of China would later send its own ambassadors after Italy's recognition of the Republic. Modern China's first ambassador was Shen Ping [zh] (沈平), while the current ambassador is Li Junhua (李军华).^{[needs update]}

During the era of the Roman Empire, the first group of people claiming to be an ambassadorial mission of Romans to China was recorded in 16 AD in the Book of the Later Han. The embassy came to Emperor Huan of Han China from "Andun" (Chinese: 安敦; Emperor Antoninus Pius or Marcus Aurelius Antoninus), "king of Daqin" (Rome). In 226 AD China was visited by the Roman Qin Lun (秦論), who wasn't a diplomat but a merchant. He visited the court of Sun Quan in Nanjing. Other Roman envoys followed in the 3rd century. One embassy from Daqin (Rome) is recorded as bringing tributary gifts to the Chinese Jin Empire (266–420 AD).

The most notable contact between China and Italy dates back to over 700 years ago, with Italian explorer Marco Polo famously sojourning in the country for seventeen years between 1271 and 1295, a few decades after Giovanni da Pian del Carpine's visit to Karakorum. Polo's visit was followed by the arrival in Beijing of Giovanni da Montecorvino, the first archbishop of Beijing, in 1294. Michele Ruggieri, an Italian Jesuit priest from Apulia and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions, was the first European to enter the Forbidden City.