Wen to visit four nations, attend 8th ASEM

BEIJING - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will pay an official visit to Greece, Belgium, Italy and Turkey from October 2 to 9,?Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu announced here Monday.

Wen is making the visit at the invitation of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Wen will also attend the 8th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the 13th China-European Union (EU) summit from October 4 to 6, as guest of European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

The 8th ASEM Summit will be held on October 4-5 in Brussels, Belgium. ASEM is an informal process of dialogue and cooperation, bringing together the 27 European Union member states and the European Commission with 16 Asian countries and the ASEAN Secretariat.

The 12th China-EU summit was held in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, in December 2009.

Sources with the Foreign Ministry said Wen will also attend events celebrating the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Italy and the opening ceremony of Chinese Culture Year during his stay in Italy.

The Chinese Culture Year will run from October this year to next September. China will hold a series of activities in more than 10 Italian cities, including Rome, Florence and Milan, to display its traditional Chinese culture and progresses in modern times.

"China believes the Chinese Culture Year event will help promote understanding and friendship between the two peoples," an official with the Foreign Ministry said. "We hope to take this opportunity to deepen cooperation in various areas and further develop our comprehensive, strategic partnership."