The Italian Chamber of Commerce in China will open its new office in Chongqing tomorrow. This rapidly growing metropolis in the southwest of the country has a population of over 30 million people. The office is in the Foreign Business District, the economic heart of the city, which also houses the offices of some big names in international trade. The opening will be attended by the Italian Consul General in Chongqing, Sergio Maffettone, and the Board of Directors of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China, including the President, Franco Cutrupia. The celebrations will continue in the evening at the Radisson Blue Hotel, where there will be a reception organised by the Chamber of Commerce with the attendance of various representatives of Chongqing’s local authorities.
The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Chongqing currently has 20 members, operating mainly in the automotive and services sectors, but especially in food and catering. The 2016 action plan aims at increasing the number of members and business networking activities. The Italian Chamber of Commerce in China already operates in four cities: in addition to the capital, Beijing, it has offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Suzhou, where there is the biggest concentration of Italian businesses outside the European Union. The city-province of Chongqing is one of the fastest growing in China and seems unaffected by the national economic slowdown. According to the latest figures released in recent days, the Chinese metropolis grew by 11 percent in 2015, against a national average of 6.9 percent, the lowest in the last quarter century.
