On March 18, local time, the China-Italy Economic and Trade Forum and the Roadshow for the 3rd China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) were held in Milan. Attendees included Ren Hongbin, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT); Mario Boselli, President of the Italy China Council Foundation (ICCF); David Doninotti, Secretary General of the Italian Association of Foreign Trade (AICE); and Liu Kan, Consul General of China in Milan, all of whom delivered speeches.

Ren Hongbin spoke highly of the significant progress made in practical cooperation across various fields since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Italy 55 years ago. He actively introduced the guiding principles of China’s “Two Sessions” (the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference). Meanwhile, Ren expressed CCPIT’s willingness to work with the Italian side to firmly support the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, and encourage enterprises from both countries to upgrade cooperation in traditional sectors while expanding collaboration in emerging fields such as electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, and digital economy. Ren welcomed more Italian enterprises and institutions to participate in the 3rd CISCE.

The Italian business community noted that Italy and China have always maintained a solid bilateral relationship, and the development of Italian enterprises is inseparable from the Chinese market. In a world where geopolitical challenges and uncertainties in the global economy are on the rise, they stressed that Italian and Chinese businesses should boost economic and trade cooperation and build closer partnerships for industrial and supply chains by leveraging the CISCE and other pivotal cooperation platforms. In so doing, they will make new and even greater contributions to the steady and sustained growth of Italy-China and Europe-China economic and trade relations.

The event was co-hosted by the CCPIT and the ICCF, with the AICE as a co-organizer. It attracted over 200 representatives from trade and investment promotion agencies, chambers of commerce, business associations and enterprises in both countries. Several cooperation agreements were signed on the spot between relevant institutions and enterprises from China and Italy.