A corner of Italy that is forever China

Italy may, like other Western countries, be hard at work “de-risking” its links to China; Giorgia Meloni’s government is considering leaving the Belt and Road Initiative that promotes Chinese trade and investment by next year. But in the hilltop university city of Macerata in the Marche region, relations with China are as enthusiastically friendly as ever. And that is because of a Jesuit priest who lived more than 400 years ago.Matteo Ricci, born in 1552, is Macerata’s most notable son. A missionary and scholar, he was the first European invited to enter the Forbidden City in Beijing. Father Ricci co-wrote the earliest translations into Latin of the Confucian classics and left an enduring bond between China and his birthplace.