Students in Italy thrilled by Xi's praise

Confucius Classroom enriches lives; Chinese language takes center stage

When students at Rome's Convitto Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II international high school wrote to President Xi Jinping, they did not expect he would reply. But days before his arrival in Italy, he did.

In the letter to Xi, the school's president Paolo Reale, and eight students explained how they had been able to gain a better understanding of China through the school's Confucius Classroom, as well as an appreciation of the vastness of the world and the value of cultural diversity.