On the morning of December 19, the attaché for science and technology of the Italian Embassy in Beijing, Dr. Plinio Innocenzi visited XJTU. He was welcomed by Vice President Lu Tianjian, who met with him and his party in room 201 of the Science Hall.

Vice President Lu gave the visitors a presentation on the city of Xi'an, and on Xi'an Jiaotong University. He said that Xi'an was the third international metropolis that China tried to create after Beijing and Shanghai. Plans for the development of the city are putting new educational demands on XJTU while at the same time presenting opportunities for expanded development.

Dr. Innocenzi in turn presented an overview of the present state of higher education of in Italy and in Europe. He said that XJTU already has cooperative relationships with some of Italy's leading universities, and expressed the hope that this visit would help to increase mutual understanding and contribute to expanding the cooperation between XJTU and Italian universities in areas of undergraduate education and research.