Italy has asked China to make "significant" purchases of Italian debt, the Financial Times reported on its website on Monday.

Italian officials told the FT that Lou Jiwei, chairman of China Investment Corp, headed up a delegation to Rome last week to meet with Giulio Tremonti, finance minister, and Italy's Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.

Two weeks ago Italian officials were in Beijing to meet CIC and China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Safe), which manages the bulk of China's foreign exchange reserves, the FT said.