Publication on CCIC History by Bologna University

The China-Italy Chamber of Commerce (CICC) is pleased to annonuce the publication of the volume: "The Italian Chamber of Commerce in China: Documents from the Historical-Diplomatic Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1903-1924)".

Promoted by the Deparment of Education Sciences of the Alma Mater Studiorium - University of Bologna and the CICC, the project brings together and analyzes a collection of previously unpublished documents tracing the foundation and development of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai during the early decades of the 20th century - an important contribution to the understanding and appreciation of the historical origins of Italy-China economic relations. 

Click HERE to the open-access publication

Shanghai, 27 August 1903. Letter from the President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China, Achille Riva, to the Minister Plenipotentiary of the Italian Legation in Beijing, Count Gallina: notification of the establishment of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China.

Members of the Board of Directors of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China, from left to right: Dino Tirinnanzi, V. Fumagalli, V. Gironi, Camillo Fumagalli, M. Tavella, A. Riggio (from The China Press, Shanghai, 20 April 1930).

The Italian Chamber of Commerce in China

Documents from the Historical-Diplomatic Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1903–1924)

Preface: Massimo Abrosetti, Ambassador of Italy to the People’s Republic of China

Edited by: Stefano Piastra and Lorenzo Riccardi

Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Department of Education Sciences
 

The volume contextualizes, through several introductory essays, a series of previously unpublished documents related to the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China (CCIC), founded in 1903. These documents are currently preserved at the Historical-Diplomatic Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome (ASDMAE, Diplomatic and Consular Representations of Italy in Beijing, Pos. 50, b. 54, fascc. 675–676).

The chronological span of the materials extends from 1903 to 1924.

This documentation is of considerable interest for reconstructing the socio-economic dynamics and human mobility between Italy and China in the first quarter of the twentieth century, during the transition from the Qing Empire to the Republic of China.

Emerging in the background of these papers are the diverse roles and orientations of the Italian communities in several Chinese cities of the time (Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Hankou).

The underlying idea of this work is to rediscover a largely forgotten history, comparing it with the present framework of Italian economic presence in China. Indeed, it is possible to trace some significant long-term continuities—after approximately one hundred years—in key sectors that were prominent in trade relations both then and now.

Ultimately, several of today’s Sino–Italian economic dynamics have deep historical roots, over a century old, connected to specific individuals, circumstances, and structures that deserve further study and dissemination.

Booklet of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China featuring advertisements of Italian companies for the Chinese market (Perrone Archive, Genoa, 1920).

1. Office of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China in Shanghai, 112 Bubbling Well Road (today West Nanjing Road), located within the Consular Residence (from Ros, 1911). Documents preserved in the Historical-Diplomatic Archive of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlight the addresses of the various offices of the CCIC in Shanghai and Tianjin in the early 20th century.
2. Camillo Fumagalli, President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China, with the managers of his textile company (Canton, 1927).

Inscription of 1918 by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy to the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China (from the Perrone Archive, Genoa, 1920).

1.Assicurazioni Generali of Trieste and Venice advertisement, ca. 1910.

2.F.lli Gancia advertisement, 1920

Article from the North China Herald announcing the election of Dino Tirinnanzi as President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China, together with other members of the board (18 February 1932).