“We warmly welcome Chinese enterprises to invest and develop here!” In Italy, whether from the Region governments or city governments, whether in Rome or in Bari, whether confronting governmental officials or interviewing entrepreneurs, the above words are most frequently heard by journalists in their interviews.
In the view of the Italian side, Chinese enterprises which are ebullient, powerful and efficient, are their favored choice for partnership. As Gian Paolo Manzella, Sono Assessore allo Sviluppo economic della Regione Lazio, said, “Now I'm much needed for Chinese enterprises for I deal with them every day.” In the cooperative vision of the Italian side, tourism industry, 5G industry, brand-based agriculture, aerospace industry etc., are all fertile lands soliciting Chinese enterprises.

As a nation renowned for its abundant tourism resources, charming sceneries, Italy energetically desires to develop its tourism industry. According to Francesco Palumbo, director of Tourism Department, the Ministry of Cultural Relics, Events & Tourism of Italy, the ministry is in charge of the bidding for multiple gov-sponsored cultural tourism programs, which is funded with a total sum of over €0.6 billion and mainly used for infrastructure construction of assigned scenic spots, online visualization(non-commercial-purpose technologies) of renowned scenic spots, subsidization of enterprises like tourism agencies/tourist hotels and so on. “These funds are able to be granted either in the form of subsidy or in lieu of corporate taxes. In my opinion, a support of money in hard cash shall be very appealing to Chinese enterprises”, says Francesco Palumbo.

Bari, the coastal city in southeastern Italy, is also expecting Chinese enterprises to boost the local tourism industry. Antonio Decaro, Mayor of Bari, in one breath, lists numerous sectors that demand the interference of Chinese enterprises, “Insufficient input into tourism results in lack of accommodation for visiting tourists; lagging urban public transport is unable to meet the demands of a touristic city; insufficient infrastructure like lack of rail transport linking to Naples… ” Though Bari is far from large cities like Rome, Milan and the population of tourists is modest, owing to its special historic position in Italy, as its infrastructure, touristic amenities improve, Bari will surely have a great promise in tourism industry. Antonio Decaro is quite confident on that, “We sincerely invite Chinese enterprises to share with us the profitable prospect in Bari's tourism.”

In the eyes of many people, Italian enterprises are taking the “high-end” route. But actually, it is not the case. Small and medium-sized enterprises in Italy are the core and heart of the economy. In Rome, there are thousands of manual workshops in the model of “front shop and back factory”. Although they have a time-honored tradition in hand-making, they also face the pressure of industrial integration and brand upgrading. In Bari, agriculture is a traditional advantage industry, and the fact that olives oils and raw materials of pasta are scattered among many small farmers gives rise to the great impetus for the intensive and large-scale development of the industry. Some experts said: “Although most enterprises in Italy are small in scale, they have always paid great attention to investment. Chinese enterprises have great potential to cooperate with them, and the space is not small.”

In fact, Italy looks forward to cooperating with Chinese enterprises, because many of them are interested in the high-tech and “high temperament” of Chinese enterprises. “Chinese enterprises are really great!” Upon mentioning the Chinese company in Rome, the Mayor of Rome, Virginia Laji, speaks highly of them, and she is particularly impressed by Huawei from China. According to her, Rome is a popular tourist destination, receiving more than 30 million overseas tourists each year. A large number of tourists coming and going bring great pressure to local public transportation. At present, the Rome municipal government is cooperating with Huawei to realize intelligent management of public transportation through big data and cloud computing by virtue of 5G. It is Huawei who provides them 5G technology. Virginia Laji also introduced, “5G technology is also applicable to the restoration of the ancient features of the monuments by virtue of digital and video images, which not only effectively protects the cultural relics but also enhances the tourist experience. Just as the says going one stone two birds.

The achievements of Chinese enterprises in civil aviation have drawn great attention of the Italian government and business associations. In the Pulia region where Bari is located, the Association of Aviation Businesses has 88 enterprises and employs more than 7,000 people, but the annual output value has reached 8 billion euros. The president of the association said, “With C919 as the representative, Chinese aviation enterprises have made great progress in recent years. The are good examples for Italian enterprises to follow in both technological innovation and enterprise management. Some Chinese aviation enterprises have discovered the great potential of Barry in aviation technology and aviation tourism. Before long, over 60% equity of an aerospace diesel engine factory in Bari was acquired by Chinese enterprises. We welcome this and welcome more Chinese enterprises to come one after another.”

Economic Daily reporters: Lin Yueran, Hu Wenpeng, Qiao Shenying, Yang Tao China Fashion Weekly reporter: Jiang Xue.

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