Round Table between CICC and Chongqing Liangjiang New Area

On June 13th, an important round table – the "China-Italy Bilateral Trade Cooperation Roundtable Meeting" – was held in Chongqing between representatives of the Liangjiang New Area Administrative Committee and an Italian delegation led by the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce together with the Consul General of Italy in Chongqing and representatives of key Italian companies with investments in the area.

The two parties have established a permanent dialogue channel through which the needs of companies and further supports/incentives will be concretely discussed in order to ensure a sustainable and effective business recovery.

The Italian delegation met with Mr Qin Shubin, Deputy Director of Liangjiang New Area Management Committee. The delegation was made up of Mr Paolo Bazzoni, Chairman of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, Mr Guido Bilancini, Consul General of Italy in Chongqing, Mr Gianluca Luisi, CICC Vice President, Mr Lorenzo Gonzo, Science and Technology Counsellor at the Consulate General of Italy in Chongqing, Mr Federico Gaiazzi, General Manager of SAIC Fiat Powertrain Hongyan, and Mr Riccardo Pignatti, General Manager of Sofima Filters.

During the meeting, Mr Paolo Bazzoni and Mr Guido Bilancini underlined the role of Chongqing as an important place for Italian investments. Mr Qin Shubin thanked the Italian delegation for his visit and reiterated his commitment to bring more Italian investments to the Liangjiang New Area, while supporting Italian companies already located in the region to enjoy a comfortable business environment.

During the business dialogue, representatives of two Italian companies talked about their future investment plans in China, bringing their most pressing concerns to the attention of the Chinese authorities. The impact of the pandemic on the employees’ lives and on the companies’ daily operations has not been marginal and has produced an increase in fixed costs on rent, supply chain and human resources. Hard-to-predict costs for running the business within epidemic prevention restrictions is also an issue to consider. Liangjiang New Area representatives responded comprehensively to the concerns of Italian companies by promising further future actions. To minimize the impact of the epidemic on business development, last weekend Liangjiang New Area introduced 20 policies to help enterprises overcome current temporary difficulties, including direct subsidies for technology improvements (up to 10 million Yuan for a single company). 

The parties agreed to arrange a follow-up meeting in the next coming weeks to coordinate the actions undertaken in support of companies’ concerns over current local business trends and future outlooks.