MILAN, Italy - Italian experts say China's initiative of building a Silk Road economic belt and a 21st-century maritime Silk Road highlights its concept of peaceful development and will contribute to the win-win cooperation between China and Europe.

"The concepts relate to the idea of seeing China's rise as an opportunity for common development, with China's development contributing to the development of other countries," Simone Dossi, professor of international relations of East Asia at the Catholic University of Milan, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

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Both the Silk Road economic belt and the 21st-century maritime Silk Road recall a positive historical memory of economic integration among nations, Dossi said, referring to the ancient Silk Road.

The ancient Silk Road represented a series of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through Asian regions connecting the West and East by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from China to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time.

In his view, the idea of a "maritime Silk Road" is primarily aimed at reassuring nations in Southeast Asia and in the Indian Ocean about China's intention of strengthening economic cooperation in the region.

On the other hand, Dossi added, the idea of a "Silk Road economic belt" draws a new picture for China's relations with its neighbors in Eurasia.

According to the professor, China's growing interest in Eastern Europe and the Middle East creates new opportunities for its interaction and collaboration with the European countries.

But this opportunity will become reality only if the European governments think and act strategically, Dossi said. "They have to fully understand China's new approach to the region, find out potential areas of common interest, and then interact with Beijing in a coordinated way."

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