Students from Macerata visit Taicang, Jiangsu province in April 2019. [Photo/WeChat account: tcfbgw]

Romano Carancini, mayor of the Italian city of Macerata, recently sent a message to Taicang, Jiangsu province, to thank them for donating 38,000 face masks, local media reported on April 22.

Romano Carancini said in his message that more important than the physical donations was the love and support Macerata received from the people of Taicang. He said that this special bond will help his people win the fight against the pandemic.

The mayor also added that he is looking forward to visiting his friends in Taicang as soon as possible.

Macerata is the hometown of Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), who compiled the first European-Chinese dictionary by inventing a system of Romanization and adding tones. He also created the first European-style map of the world in Chinese. Because of this, Macerata was a well-known city in China.

Macerata and Taicang formed their partnership in 2016 and have carried out frequent tourism, cultural, and economic exchanges over the past four years.

The 2019 Macerata Festival kicks off in Taicang on April 11. [Photo/WeChat account: tcfbgw]