CICC Meets with Tianjin Municipality

A fruitful meeting between the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce (CICC) and representatives of the Municipality of Tianjin was held on July 13th, 2022.

Our Chamber was represented by Mr Fabio Antonello, CICC Board Member in Tianjin, while the Chinese side was represented by Mr Zhu Hong, Director of Foreign Investment Promotion Department, Mr Zheng Jian, Director of Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone, Ms Sun Yuhong, Director of Hebei District Commerce Bureau, Mr Li Yunfei, General Manager of the Flight Investment & Management Group and Executive President of Tianjin International Design Week, and Ms Monica Xu, Director of the International Department of Tianjin International Design Week.

The two sides reviewed the main bilateral initiatives of recent years, also outlining in detail the next phase of the collaboration.

In Tianjin, the largest port in northern China, the presence of Italian companies is substantial. In the Municipality, moreover, the interest in Italy is considerable and growing. An interest that has been further strengthened following a government push that aims to increase trade with Italy and make Tianjin an important center for Italian products and companies. Future business opportunities are waiting to be exploited.

In the past few years, the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce has been working hard on building tighter relations with the Municipality and with local partners.

1. Tianjin Commercial Bureau and Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone: Thanks to the cooperation with the Tianjin Commercial Bureau and the Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone Administrative Committee, two agreements will be signed to establish CICC’s presence through a local office right at the heart of the Industrial Park for SMEs, with resources to develop initiatives and liaise with local partners. Hopefully by the end of the year.

2. Italian Cultural Center and “Heart of Life”: CICC has contributed to the promotion of the newly inaugurated Italian Cultural Center in the Italian neighbourhood by co-organizing the event “Heart of Life”: 4 days of promotion focused on Italian art, culture, food & beverage, at the presence of the local Institutions, of the Italian business representatives and of the local public. This led to the creation of a Steering Committee to guide and oversee Italian-linked promotional activities, which will be organized in the city in the future. 

3. Nankai University: Most recently, CICC has also started to cooperate with Nankai University, which holds one of the most important Italian language departments in China. Our Chamber is currently about to sign a cooperation agreement, to provide a channel to local students studying Italian and Italian companies operating in China, to meet and potentially cooperate. 

Even looking to the near future, there is no shortage of initiatives in the pipeline:

• At the beginning of October, we will cooperate in organizing the Tianjin Design Week, an opportunity for our companies to promote Italian culture, art and design and much more.

• In November, we will organize the event “Italy meets Tianjin”, an informative session to present the benefits of the Tianjin area to the Italian public, through the examples of Italian companies already operating in the area.

Finally, the parties agreed to organize periodic meetings to plan future activities, thus establishing a permanent dialogue channel through which business opportunities for Italian companies in the area will be effectively exploited.