On the eve of his state visit to Italy, Xi pointed out in an article he wrote for Milan's Corriere della Sera daily newspaper that the importance of closer ties between World Cultural Heritage sites in the two countries promotes understanding of different cultures and the world's cultural diversity.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces in Yunnan province and in Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato in northwest Italy will become such sister sites, as will the West Lake Cultural Landscape in Hangzhou and City of Verona in Italy.

A five-year agreement (2013-17) between China and Italy enabled the National Museum of China and Palazzo Venezia in Rome to annually hold major exhibitions of cultural relics from each other's countries.

In continuity of the good relationship, 102 Renaissance and ancient Roman artworks from 17 Italian museums were exhibited in Beijing's Capital Museum last year.

Xinhua contributed to this story.