Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was in Rome on Thursday to put the seal on Sino-Italian business deals worth a reported 2.5 billion dollars after fending off European pressure to increase the value of the yuan.

The contracts will include a joint project worth 800 million dollars to build a solar power station in southern Italy and two contracts to provide broadband Internet in Italy, Italian newspapers reported, citing officials.

"Ten commercial contracts will be signed for a value of around 2.5 billion dollars (1.8 billion euros)," Il Sole 24 Ore, the main business daily, said.

"China for us is becoming an ever more strategic partner," the newspaper quoted Deputy Economic Development Minister Adolfo Urso as saying.

La Repubblica daily said there would also be talks on sea ports, high-speed rail, airports and highways, as well as an agreement with Mandarin Fund and the China Development Bank to invest in Italian small and medium-sized firms.

"The novelty is that Beijing is no longer limiting itself to inviting Italian companies to invest in China but is asking Italy to open itself to Chinese investments," La Repubblica said.

Wen will meet with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and President Giorgio Napolitano, as well Chinese community leaders during his one-day visit — the third leg of his week-long trip across Europe, officials said.

Wen and Berlusconi are also due to preside over talks between China and Italian business leaders including the heads of Italian energy giants Eni and Enel, as well as the chief of Italy's employers federation, Emma Marcegaglia.

China "knows very well our role in the centre of the Mediterranean and as an access point to the European Union," Franco Cutrupia, head of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China was quoted as saying by Corriere della Sera.

Wen comes to Italy after stormy talks in Brussels, where he told a Europe-China business forum on Wednesday: "I say to Europe's leaders — don't join the chorus pressing (China) to revalue the yuan."

He warned such a move would bankrupt many Chinese companies and create social unrest, ultimately increasing global economic instability.

European and US leaders have said China should allows its currency to appreciate in value in order to right global trade imbalances.

"The tone of his visit to Rome is different," La Repubblica said.

"Relations between China and Paris, London and Berlin have cooled in recent months. Italy has not raised its voice over human rights or over the commercial and currency expansion of the Asian locomotive," it added.

"For China, Italy is one of the most convenient trade platforms on the Mediterranean and the billions from China's sovereign wealth fund are ready to be invested in infrastructure," La Repubblica said earlier.

China and Italy are aiming to double their trade turnover to 80 billion dollars by 2015 from around 40 billion dollars this year, official said.

"A dozen agreements for cooperation in the economic, justice, cultural, scientific, environmental and financial sectors will be signed," the embassy said in a statement on the eve of the visit.

Wen is expected to leave for Turkey later on Thursday.

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