The Extraordinary Italian Taste: Promotion and Protection of Geographical Indications in China, Beijing March 15th_Post Event

Dear Members and Friends of CICC,

In occasion of the World Consumer Rights Day, the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy in the P.R.C., the Italian Trade Agency, and under the patronage of the European Union Delegation in Beijing, organized the event "The Extraordinary Italian Taste: Promotion and Protection of Geographical Indications in China". The event was held on March 15th at the Auditorium of the Embassy of Italy. The full agenda of the event is available here.

The conference was divided in three parts, of which the morning session was focused GIs Protection in China. The aim was to raise awareness among Italian companies on how they can safeguard the GIs in China. The moderator of the event was Federico Antonelli, Legal Affairs Attaché Embassy of Italy and the speakers of the event gave interesting insights on different aspects of GIs protection in China. About 40 representatives of Italian companies from the Food and Beverage industry attended the session, which was later followed by a light lunch, catered by the Italian Hospitality-awarded Italian Restaurant La Dolce Vita.

The first afternoon session started at 14:00. After the opening remarks by the Ambassador of Italy in China Ettore Francesco Sequi, the session moderated by Rita Fatiguso from "Il Sole 24 Ore" focused on different experiences on the contribution of Protected Denominations of Origin and Protected Geographical Indications to enhance and promote local economies.

The second afternoon session, moderated by the First Secretary of the Embassy of Italy Enrico Berti, was centered on the promotion of Italian PDOs and PGIs in China. Among the speakers, Amedeo Scarpa, Director of Italian Trade Agency in China; Marco Pizzoli, Vice-Coordinator of Food & Beverage Working Group of CCIC; and several representatives of Italian consortia.

At the end of the session, the more than 130 guests had the opportunity to taste the quality of Italian PDO and PGI products thanks to the tasting corners organized by our sponsors.

The CICC would like to thank all the guests for their participation. A special thanks goes to our sponsors for the tasting corners: Beijing Jikang Food Co Ltd, Cruitaly, Kelit Italian Wine (Shenzhen) Ltd., Miele Food Import&Export Ltd., Pizza Saporita, Shanghai SinoDrink Trading Co., Ltd and Venchi (Beijing) Trading Co. Ltd.

For more information, please read the Embassy of Italy press release here.

Kind regards,

The CICC Team