World Italian Language Week 2013 was launched at the Italian Embassy in Beijing on Monday, offering a series of events aimed at promoting Italian language and culture within China.

Despite it's name, the event this year will be held over a period of two weeks, ending on Oct 30, so as to give the Chinese public a greater opportunity to benefit from Italian-language related events.

Initiated by the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the event is being organized by the Italian Cultural Institute and the Swiss embassy in Beijing, in partnership with their counterparts in other Chinese cities. The events will be open to the general public, but will target Chinese students of Italian in several cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The program will explore the presence of Italian language in the fields of contemporary literature, cinema, music, TV and science, as well as examining figures in the arts ranging from Leonardo Da Vinci through to modern-day pianist Michele Campanella.

In an effort at bridging linguistic and cultural differences between the two nations, Italy has sent more language teachers to work in Chinese universities in recent years. This effort will be boosted over the next two weeks by the provision of intensive Italian language training courses in five universities in Beijing.

Niccolò Castelli, a young Swiss film-maker, will come to present his movie "Tutti Giù". [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn.]

Events aimed at the general public will include a visit by Swiss poet Fabio Pusterla, who will introduce his work. Niccolò Castelli, a young Swiss filmmaker, will present his movie Tutti Giù, while Swiss-Italian TV will introduce several Swiss-Italian artists through its Cult-TV program.

"We are trying to act as a bridge between the two languages and cultures," said Jenny Piaget, head of the culture and media section at the Swiss embassy, during the launch event.

The promotion and protection of the Italian language and culture are important concerns not only for Italy but also for Switzerland. The canton of Ticino and parts of the canton of Grisons are populated by Italian speakers, while approximately 8 per cent of the national population consider the language their mother tongue. Half of them live in French and Germany speaking areas.