Italy wants to get closer to its Chinese immigrants. Italy's interior ministry said on Friday that four policemen from Beijing will join the Carabinieri, Italy's police force, as a way of extending a friendly hand to its Chinese community.

Carabinieri officers were sent to Beijing in the past months to train Chinese officers. Beijing's chief of police will choose four policemen to send to the European country. They will first join Carabinieri patrols but will be subsequently dispatched to the crime prevention department.

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Two Chinese policemen will join a group of Carabinieri officers in patrolling Milan, especially Via Paolo Sarpi where Chinese residents, mostly from Zhejiang province, reside. The other two will set off with Italian officers to walk the streets of Rome, focusing on Piazza Vittorio, Santa Maria Maggiore, and Termini station.

The project will start on May 3 and will last for 15 days. Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said that this may only be the first phase of this particular China-Italy defense cooperation.

The Italian government hopes that by adding familiar blood to their Carabinieri, Chinese immigrants will abandon their natural mistrust in Italian police. This will also give them the opportunity to dive deeper into Asian criminal organisations.

TagsItaly-China relations, Beijing Police, exchange program, Chinese immigrants, immigrants in Italy, Chinese immigrants in Italy