ROME, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Representatives of leading Chinese and Italian media pledged on Wednesday here to renew and expand collaboration to facilitate mutual understanding between the peoples and to promote bilateral ties.

On the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Italy, some 200 government officials, media executives, reporters and experts of the two countries participated in a dialogue in the National Museum of the 21st Century Arts, Rome.

In a speech delivered at the dialogue, Jiang Jianguo, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, proposed the establishment of a regular exchange and cooperation mechanism between the two countries' media to boost integrated media development and experience-sharing.

He said media of both sides should contribute positive energy to the development of friendly Sino-Italian relations through various forms of interaction and cooperation.

Chinese Ambassador to Italy Li Ruiyu urged the two countries' media staff to seize the historic opportunity of Xi's visit to forge r links and to help usher in a brighter future for the friendly ties between China and Italy.

Vito Crimi, Italian state secretary of the Council of Ministers with responsibility for information and publishing, said there are cultural and informational implications of furthering bilateral ties, in addition to the economic perspective.

Sun Shangwu, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily, said China and Italy are both ancient civilizations, and there are many famous historical figures known to the peoples of both countries in the history of bilateral exchanges, such as Marco Polo, Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi that can be tapped and covered by the media.

Alessandro Banfi, a director with the Italian TV network Mediaset, said he has just returned from a trip to China, where he had in-depth discussions with Chinese counterparts and found ample room for collaboration.

The dialogue also featured the inking of a cooperation accord between China's Economic Daily and Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore.