On March 23, 2019, at the witness of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, the representatives of China and Italy exchanged the certificates about the repatriation of 796 Chinese artifacts in Rome. On April 24, 2019, “The Journey Back Home: An Exhibition of Chinese Artifacts Repatriated from Italy” had a grand opening in the NMC. On April 28, 2019, Italian Prime Minister Conte, at the suggestion of President Xi Jinping, made a special trip to the NMC to visit the exhibition.
On April 29, 2019, Franco Amadei, Cultural Counselor of the Embassy of Italy in China, made a special trip to the NMC and expressed, on behalf of the Italian side, gratitude to the NMC and the Director Wang Chunfa. Amadei thought highly of the NMC’s efficiency and competence, and emphasized it was a miracle that the NMC could in such a short span of time retrieve and display the Chinese artifacts from Italy.
Wang Chunfa noted the NMC as a cultural parlor for China conducts extensive communication with the museums from around the world; particularly over recent years it has been in frequent cooperation with the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, as evidenced by the fact that it has brought in exhibitions from Italy for five consecutive years. During President Xi Jinping’s visit to Italy this March, he and Italian Prime Minister Conte decided to exchange the activities for the culture and tourism year between the two countries in 2020 when China and Italy mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of their diplomatic ties. To that end, the NMC is willing to hold representative exhibitions of history and art in cooperation with related Italian organizations and put in place a regular communication mechanism.
Amadei highly commended the NMC’s competence in organizing exhibitions and its philosophy in operating the museum. He indicated that he would urge the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism to facilitate exhibitions of selected artworks from China and Italy, further communication and cooperation between the Chinese and Italian museums, and enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples of Italy and China amid the dialogues of multiple cultures.