The Italian Embassy in Beijing is continuing its efforts to promote Italy’s economic system across Chinese Provinces and regional cities. After visiting the city of Xi’An (Shaanxi Province) last year, Ambassador Ettore Sequi recently visited Hangzhou, the capital of the eastern coastal Zhejiang Province, at the head of a promotion mission organised in association with the Italian Consulate General in Shanghai, the Italian trade agency Agenzia ICE and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China. The mission started with a Business Forum attended by the top authorities of Hanghzou and with the participation of more than 100 Italian and Chinese businesses. The Forum highlighted Italian points of excellence in several priority sectors in which Italy and China have established business partnerships. The Forum opened with the subject of health care with a presentation on “The Year of Italian Health Care in China” and the “v-ITALY-ty” initiative, which was followed by the agro-food sector with a focus on wine and the opportunities created by e-commerce for the promotion of Italian products.
The following subjects on the programme were aviation, aerospace, energy, the environment and sustainable urbanisation. In his opening speech, Ambassador Sequi emphasised Italy’s interest in this part of China, where numerous Italian companies have already successfully established their businesses and others will come to contribute to the important development programmes promoted by local authorities. Italy and China are jointly projected on the “Road to 50” leading to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2020, in parallel with the close of the 13th Five-Year Plan. The Ambassador said: “Italy is ready to accompany China along its transition towards the so-called ‘new normal’”. During the two-day mission, the Ambassador, together with authorities and companies, visited the headquarters of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, where they discussed promoting Italian brands on online platforms and the protection of intellectual rights. The mission continued with an Italian cultural event in Hangzhou, where an Italian film was screened in collaboration with Agenzia ICE, Anica and the Lumière circuit, and with the opening of a photographic show by Roberto Goffi, dedicated to “Milan, from the Expo to the Triennale of Design”.
