Post Event - 12th Suzhou Appreciation Meeting 16th May

Dear Members and Friends of CICC,

The 12th Suzhou Appreciation Meeting organized by the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce (CICC) and supported by the Italian Consulate General of Italy in Shanghai was successfully held on the 16th of May at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Suzhou.

The event was chaired by the Secretary General of China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, Giulia Gallarati and it started with a speech by the Ambassador of Italy in P.R.C. Ettore Francesco Sequi who talked about the strong relations that Italy and China currently have and the pivotal role that Suzhou plays in maintaining these relations, highlighting that in 2020 we will celebrate 50th anniversary of cooperation.

Next, Vice-Mayor of Suzhou Municipality Yang Zhiping also had a few words to say about the great relations between China and Italy.  He talked how next year will mark 40 years since Venice and Suzhou became twin cities and how next year will also mark 50 years of collaborations between Italy and China. 

The Chairman of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce Davide Cucino gave a brief introduction into the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce and explained how the Suzhou Appreciation meeting can help us improve the context in which we work.  On the one hand, he talked about how Italian firms need to be able to adapt in the complex Chinese market and how they need to respect the context of country they work in. However, he also explained how he thinks that domestic and foreign firms should be treated equally and work under the same conditions.

The Coordinator of the Suzhou Chapter Lorenzo Balì highlighted that Suzhou is the capital of Italian firms in China.  He talked about how a lot of things have changed from the first time the Suzhou Appreciation meeting was held 12 years ago, Italian firms were coming in to their market and trying to integrate their products and know-how into the Chinese market.  Now, Italian firms are well-settled into the Chinese market and are trying to expand and grow further. 

The General Manager of Modula, Riccardo Campanile talked about the importance of Modula in Suzhou. Modula recently made a huge investment of 25$ million into Suzhou and have provided a large amount of jobs for Suzhou locals. His presentation focused around the history of Modula and presented some of the important statistics about their company. 

Vice-General Manager of Investment Promotion Department, Wang Yuanmeng gave a brief introduction into the state invested company which he represents. His company is building many railway networks in Suzhou who’s aims are to develop Suzhou economically in the long term.

During the Q&A Session, moderated by the CICC Shanghai Suzhou Office Manager, Emanuela Vizzarro, different questions were addressed and answered. 

After the networking lunch, there was a round table discussion which focused on environmental protection regulations. Xu Hao from the Environmental Inspection Branch Department of Ecology and Environmental of Suzhou kicked off the round table by giving a presentation revolving around environmental protections and inspections. After his presentation, there was a Q&A session which tackled some of the problems that Italian companies are facing regarding environmental laws.

The CICC would like to thank all the authorities, guests and Members for the successful outcome of the event!

Special thanks to our Sponsor and all the CICC Companies:

The Meeting Minute will be uploaded soon!

Best Regards,

CICC Team