On July 6, 2009, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi attended China-Italy Business Forum and Business Matching Event in Rome.
In his speech at the forum, President Hu said that Italy is among the earliest European countries that started trade with China. After the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, bilateral trade exchanges started to boom. In recent years, the cooperation between the two countries in various fields is moving forward in a full-fledged manner and has witnessed fruitful results. With concerted efforts of the two sides, bilateral economic and trade cooperation has expanded from simple trade in goods to trade in goods, trade in services, investment cooperation, and other aspects. In 2008, bilateral trade volume reached a record high of more than 38 billion U.S. dollars, close to the goal of 40 billion U.S. dollars set by the two countries for 2010. Italy has become China’s fifth largest trading partner and the third largest technology import source in the European Union.
Hu pointed out that although the international financial crisis posed serious challenges to the economic and trade cooperation between China and Italy, China's import from Italy dropped much slower than the decline of China’s export to Italy since the beginning of the year. The bilateral trade deficit has narrowed. Cooperation in various fields continues to expand including high-tech, energy saving, environmental protection, cultural Industry and other areas. The investment activities are getting active. “I am pleased to learn that hundreds of entrepreneurs in China and Italy had very good discussions and are going to sign a series of contracts and agreements for procurement of advanced technologies and equipment, two-way investment, and development of trade in services to enhance bilateral cooperation in areas such as advanced technologies, information and communication, energy saving and environmental protection. The positive momentum once again shows that as long as we join hands and blaze new trails, we will be able to maintain the good momentum of bilateral economic and trade cooperation.”
Hu raised the following suggestions on deepening bilateral economic and trade cooperation in the new situation.
First, to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Italy with the economic and trade cooperation as the driving force. The economic and trade cooperation is an important part of bilateral relations and an important force driving the development of bilateral relations. At present, the bilateral trade volume accounts for a very small percentage of the total foreign trade volume of China and Italy. There are great potentials for bilateral cooperation. Italy is a strong industrial country famous for mature technologies, well-known brands and excellent techniques. Italian products such as numerically controlled machine tools, textile machinery, fashion products, food, and furniture were well-received by Chinese enterprises and consumers. “We welcome Italian enterprises to actively explore the Chinese market. At the same time, the Chinese government also encourages more and more Chinese enterprises to invest and start their business in Italy. We look forward to joining hands with our Italian counterparts to increase the breadth and depth of bilateral economic and trade cooperation and inject new vitalities into the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Italy.”
Second, to create a favorable environment for trade and investment with facilitation as the goal. When the world economy is facing difficulties, advancing trade and investment facilitation becomes more important. The two governments, especially the competent authorities in charge of economic and trade affairs, should strengthen consultations and exchanges, give full play to such mechanisms as the Sino-Italian Mixed Committee for Economic Cooperation, strive to eliminate barriers to trade and investment, provide better conditions for the entry of goods, investment, services, and people into the respective market and create a fairer and more open trade and investment environment for the mutually beneficial cooperation between enterprises. The chambers of commerce and industry and investment and trade promotion agencies of the two countries should serve as a bridge and link for the enterprises and push forward the bilateral economic and trade ties.
Third, to upgrade economic and trade cooperation to a new level with structural optimization as the focus. China and Italy have respective advantages in service trade such as high-tech, renewable energy, energy saving and environmental protection, infrastructure development, culture, and tourism. The two countries are highly complementary to each other in those fields. The two sides, while consolidating the cooperation in traditional arenas, should also expand cooperation in the above areas and foster new growth points for bilateral economy and trade. “We encourage Italian enterprises to actively participate in the implementation of China’s regional development strategies, such as the west development strategy, the strategy for the rejuvenation of old industrial bases in northeast China and other regions, and the strategy for promoting the rise of central China. We also support Chinese enterprises to strengthen cooperation with Italian enterprises in the high-end manufacturing, energy saving and environmental protection, modern service industry and other fields, and invest and start business in industrial parks in Italy so as to enrich the connotation of mutually beneficial cooperation on a constant basis.
Fourth, to solidify the foundation for bilateral economic and trade cooperation with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as the mainstay. Enterprises are main players in the market and driving forces promoting the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Italy. Italy is well known as the “kingdom of SMEs”. SMEs having advanced technology and well-known brands are important forces of the Italian economy and technology. To cope with the international financial crisis, China and Italy have introduced policies and measures in support of SMEs. We should take this opportunity to build a more effective platform to strengthen complementarities and promote cooperation in such areas as technology, technique, design, branding and marketing, and increase exchanges between SMEs.
Fifth, to oppose protectionism in all its forms with the concept of openness as the guide. The increasingly deepening economic globalization has closely linked all countries together. “In this context, only by adhering to the concept of openness and protecting the open market, can we achieve an early recovery and development of world economy. China has sent a number of trade and investment promotion delegations to Europe in just a few months after the international financial crisis for the sake of promoting the common development of both sides and even the world. In the future, China will continue to pursue an opening-up strategy featuring mutual benefit and win-win results and maintain a market environment that ensures fair competition. China and Italy should work together to take practical actions to resist trade and investment protectionism and strive to maintain an open, fair and equitable global economic and trading system.”
Hu pointed out that new challenges mean new opportunities. The international financial crisis continues to deepen and spread and the world economic outlook is still grim. However, the international community has reached broad consensus on expanding cooperation and jointly coping with the challenges and has adopted a series of measures. China is willing to work together with all countries in the world to make positive efforts to cope with the international financial crisis and promote the recovery of world economy.
Finally Hu said, “I sincerely hope that entrepreneurs of our two countries could expand areas of cooperation, enrich connotations of cooperation, and constantly open up new prospects for bilateral economic and trade cooperation.”
Berlusconi said in his speech that President Hu Jintao's visit was of great significance. During the visit, the two leaders had a productive meeting and reached broad consensus on strengthening friendly cooperation between Italy and China. Both Italy and China have a long history and cultural tradition. The two countries have great potentials for cooperation in various fields. Italy would take next year, the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Italy and China, as an opportunity to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, organize the "Chinese Culture Year" in Italy, expand people-to-people exchanges and enhance mutual understanding and friendship. He expressed the hope that to strengthen cooperation between business communities, expand mutual trade and investment, and overcome the international financial crisis at an early date so as to benefit the two peoples.
Chen Deming, Chinese Minister of Commerce, Claudio Scajola, Italian Minister of Economic Development, and Emma Marcegaglia, President of the Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria) also delivered speeches at the forum.
The event was co-organized by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. More than 500 participants from governments and business communities attended the event.
Wang Huning and Dai Bingguo were also present at the above-mentioned activities.