Italian tourists pose for a photo with Chinese and Italian police officers on the Great Wall in Beijing on Monday. [Photo/Xinhua]

Ettore Francesco Sequi, Italian ambassador to China, said on Monday that Italy has supported and praised the joint patrols, which will "play a significant role in promoting bilateral safety cooperation and fighting cross-border crime".

Pang Bo, a Chinese policeman who patrolled in Italy last year, said two Chinese police officers wearing Chinese uniforms patrolled with two Italian officers usually from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

They were generally deployed in tourists sites, railway stations or other places where Chinese might gather. Their main task was to answer Chinese tourists' questions and help them communicate with Italian officers, Pang told Chinese media last year.

Gao Yunbin, a Ministry of Public Security media officer, said Chinese officers would "rush to the scene to assist their foreign counterparts" in cases involving Chinese tourists.

As the number of Chinese tourists in Europe has grown in recent years, so have the crimes against them.

Liu Jianming of the China National Tourism Administration said on Monday that more than 800,000 Chinese and Italian tourists visited each other's nations in 2016.