Ten Chinese police officers have begun joint patrols in four Italian cities as part of a novel programme aimed at ensuring the safety of tourists from China.
Four groups of Chinese police officers will join their Italian counterparts for patrols in the cities of Rome, Milan, Florence and Naples from June 5 to 25, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.
The 20-day programme also includes a Chinese-language police hotline where calls are answered by Chinese police officers, who will help Italian police with security issues concerning Chinese tourists, the statement said.
China sent four police officers to Rome and Milan to conduct joint patrols in May 2016. This year, Florence and Naples, both popular destinations for Chinese tourists, were also added to the list and six additional officers were sent.
This is the latest programme aimed at protecting the interests of Chinese tourists overseas, and will help expand and deepen the Sino-Italian law enforcement cooperation, the statement said.
From April 24 to May 7, four Italian officers and their Chinese counterparts conducted joint patrols at tourist areas in Beijing and Shanghai, the first foreign police officers to carry out joint patrols in China.
According to government statistics, more than 800,000 Chinese and Italian tourists travelled between the two countries in 2016, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
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