The Italian perception of China is changing, China's cultural appeal in Italy is growing, and more and more students are studying the Chinese language, a professor of La Sapienza University told Xinhua in an interview.

Federico Masini, the dean of the Oriental Studies Faculty, Tuesday attended a piano concert jointly organized by the Confucian School of La Sapienza University and the Italy-China Foundation in honor of the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year.

At the end of the concert, he said that the Chinese Culture Year in Italy offered an opportunity to further spread knowledge on China.

Among the 3500 students in the Oriental Studies Faculty, there are 1500 studying the Chinese language, said Masini.

"The number of Italian students studying Chinese has surpassed those studying English. Students have developed an awareness about the importance of the Chinese language, regarding it as an instrument for their cultural and professional development," he explained.

Chinese-learning is not a fad, and it is a sign of Italians' growing interest in China, he noted.

The perception of China is also changing, he said. While it used to be regarded as just another country supplying exports and immigrants, as portrayed in the media, is is increasingly seen as a country with deep cultural and artistic dimensions, he added.

Italians have come to understand that Italy's Chinese community represents just one separate reality and that China is undergoing an incredible transformation, the dean said.

"Often China is perceived as a closed, distant and immobile world, solely characterized by its economic activity. However, China is much more than an economic, military and political power. China has its own particular culture, society, values, traditions, literature and art," Masini said.

"We see today that China is opening up to the rest of the world and that this process is triggering a continuous process of transformation," he pointed out.

China's deep transformation was also observed by Cesare Romiti, head of the Italy-China Foundation. "Each time I go there (China), I am marveled by the progress made compared to the West and by the results of the many bilateral exchange programs," he said.

For Masini, the Chinese Culture Year in Italy, which follows the Italian Year in China in 2006 and will officially start in September, responds to the challenge of spreading a new perception of China as a cultural power able to influence other countries' culture.

Chinese culture is diverse: It doesn't merely include traditional opera and theater, but also other art forms still unknown in Italy, Masini said.

"China has difficulty in presenting itself to the outside world, while other countries find it hard to understand what China is really like. This is why the Chinese Culture Year in Italy is set to play a crucial role in spreading a more complete image of China while boosting bilateral trade," Masini explained.

In his view, the upcoming Chinese Culture Year can raise mutual awareness and knowledge between Italians and Chinese people. Thus, it can also help overcome the difficulties both peoples may have in understanding each other.

(Xinhua News Agency February 11, 2010)