The city of Florence in Italy will give to Ningbo, a coastal city of east China's Zhejiang Province, a bronze replica of the statue of David, a Michelangelo masterpiece, said the Ningbo city government on Friday.

The city has received a special letter from Italy confirming the gift of the 5.17-meter-high replica from Florence, said Yu Danhua, a spokesman for the Ningbo city government at a news conference. The gift statue is the same size as the original.

The replica has been completed and is expected to be transported to Ningbo next month, where an Italian Fashion and Cultural Week will be held at that time with Ningbo and Florence as co-sponsors, according to the spokesman.

The Italian fashion week is also part of the cultural exchanges for the Year of Italy in China in 2006.

This is the first time Florence has presented a replica of the statue of David to another city, said Mario Razzanelli, a legislator of Florence, at the conference.

It is hoped the gift will help promote the friendship and exchanges between Italian and Chinese peoples, said Razzanelli.

In return, the Ningbo city government decided to present Florence a pair of carved stone lions, Yu said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2006)