Patrols have Italian characteristics
Eight Italian police officers are working with Chinese police in China, assisting with cases to protect the safety of Italian tourists, the Ministry of Public Security said on Monday.
The Italian police officers began patrolling in Beijing on Monday and went to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Xi’an. It is the second time Italian police have had joint patrols in China. This exchange concludes on July 29.
The Italian police won’t carry weapons, but can serve as translators and offer advice to help with safety cases targeting Italian tourists in scenic spots in the four cities, Hu Binchen, deputy director of the ministry’s International Cooperation Bureau, told China Daily.
“Joint police patrols are considered an important channel of expanding mutual trust and giving tourists a strong sense of security,” he said. “We can use the chance to share information and exchange experiences with our Italian counterparts to improve the level of law enforcement.”
In recent years, an increasing number of Chinese tourists have gone to Europe for travel, including Italy, and lots of European tourists have also visited China, so it’s inevitable more cases involving theft of property or robbery will occur targeting the tourists in both countries.
Ministry figures show that more than 200,000 Chinese tourists went to Italy and more than 50,000 Italian tourists visited China last year.
In 2015, China and Italy signed a memorandum of understanding about setting up joint patrols in tourism spots in both countries, the first such agreement between China and a foreign country. Since 2015, China has sent more than 30 police officers to Italy to conduct joint patrols in three groups and Italy has sent 16 police officers to China in two groups.
In May 2016, the first group of four Chinese police officers patrolled in Rome and Milan to protect the safety of Chinese tourists. Last May, four Italian police officers participated in joint patrols with Chinese police in scenic spots in Beijing and Shanghai — the first foreign police officers to conduct joint patrols in China.
Apart from Italy, China has sent police officers to Croatia on a patrol mission to help handling cases involving Chinese tourists.
Six Chinese police conducted joint patrols with Croatian officers on Sunday at tourist attractions in Croatia. The patrol will last for a month with the goal of curbing criminal cases targeting Chinese tourists.
Hua Chunying, spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said there was a 60 percent increase in Chinese tourists traveling to Croatia last year and officials decided on the joint patrol based on a practical need.
“Conducting the joint patrol with our Croatian counterparts shows we have improved our law enforcement capability to a new level, and we will continue to deepen our practical cooperation in different fields,” she said.