Italy’s decision to illuminate Rome’s Colosseum in communist red for the visit of the Chinese premier sent the strongest possible signal as to the importance it placed on the trip.
The unusual move in honour of Wen Jiabao’s first visit in more than five years comes as Italy prepares – somewhat nervously – for a surge in large-scale investment in infrastructure and high-tech joint ventures, hoping in exchange to win equal treatment for Italian companies in China.
Wen Jiabao and Silvio Berlusconi, his Italian counterpart, on Thursday revealed joint ambitions to more than double bilateral trade to $100bn by 2015, with the focus on boosting investment.