Davide Cucino: Chairman of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce

China and Italy, two ancient civilizations, were the starting points of the ancient Silk Road. The exchanges between the two countries have a long history and were recorded in the Travels of Marco Polo. Nowadays, as the intersection of the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st- Century Maritime Silk Road", Italy is achieving an historic reunion with China through the “Belt and Road initiative”. This will not only promote the two countries'economic and trade growth, but also drive and benefit the economic construction of all the countries along the Sino-European Economic Belt.

The China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, established in Beijing in 1991, has been a window and bridge for trade between China and Italy for over a quarter of a century, and it definitely plays an important role in promoting Italian companies' investment in China. As of 2017, the number of members of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce had reached 545, covering Italy's main industries (Italian state-holding and multinational corporations), small and medium-sized manufacturing and trading and consulting companies.

Mr. Davide Cucino, current Chairman of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, has lived in China for 30 years and is quite familiar with almost every aspect of China. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening up, we’re honored to have Mr. Davide Cucino here to share his views on how to do business in China, the trade between China and Italy over the past 40 years, as well as the B&R initiative.

Amiable Chinese officials and efficient state-owned business

Davide Cucino studied in Beijing in the early 1990s

"Last Saturday was the 30th anniversary of my stay in China. And I still remember the first day I arrived here. It was summer, really hot. There were noisy sounds and stalls selling watermelons everywhere," Davide recalled at the beginning of the interview. “Before I came, I had studied Chinese and Chinese history in Italy, especially about the socioeconomic reforms during the Song Dynasty. That was why I won the scholarship from the Chinese government and finally made my trip to China for further study.” The once student but now typical Italian businessman with a suit and a bow tie continued, “But seeing is believing. China and the Chinese were different from what I had read in books.”

When Davide Cucino just arrived in Beijing

Davide was the Chairman of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce for the first time from 2002 to 2010, and then served as the Chairman of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China from 2011 to 2014. These two experiences renewed Davide’s impressions on Chinese government officials. “At first, I knew little about how everything was going. Before meetings, I prepared a lot and was quite nervous. In fact, during the meeting, they told us not to worry and feel relaxed. The officials, including Wu Yi, then Minister of Commerce, and Zhong Shan, current Minister of Commerce, provided us with a great atmosphere to communicate with each other. And my colleagues and I all accumulated a wealth of experience about how to do business in China during the process of dealing with Chinese government officials."

And it is not only government officials but also state-owned enterprises in China that have changed Davide's impressions. He had worked for large Italian enterprises such as Fincantieri and Finmeccanica and he was used to comparing the enterprises of the two countries. "Generally speaking, Chinese state-owned enterprises were supposed to have a tighter connection with the government so that every step during the business should be approved by multiple decision makers. While Italian ship or aviation companies are partly state-holding, they have their own control systems. But today, to our surprise, Chinese state-owned enterprises make very quick decisions so sometimes our Italian enterprises fail to follow the plan. More importantly, now in a globalized environment, Chinese enterprises are more market-oriented to be aligned with the global market and reduce the consideration of relevant domestic policies. And the good news is that despite the changes in the market environment, enterprises from the two countries have always cooperated well."

More than food and fashion: Italian technology and manufacturing contribute to China's development

Davide Cucino as the Chairman of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China

During the interview, Davide mentioned Italian high-tech and industrial equipment industry more than once, clearly very proud of Italian Manufacturing. “Italy has been mainly well-known for its clothing, food or wines for a long time. Actually, Italy is also very strong in high-tech equipment. Most of Italy's exports are comprised of high-tech and electromechanical equipment. Ferrari has long been a household name. However, many parts of the F1 car, such as the wheel rim and hub, are also made in Italy. Besides, a number of high-speed railways in Europe also use Italian technology."

Italian technology and manufacturing have also been indispensable to the rapid development of China. The Baoshan luxury cruise project is a good example. On October 13, 2015, China state shipbuilding corporation (CSSC), China Investment Corporation (CIC), Carnival Corporation, Fincantieri Corporation, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, and Shanghai Baoshan District Government issued a joint declaration on a six-party cooperation agreement in the cruise industry. Among them, the Italian Fincantieri Corporation is responsible for the cruise ships'design.

"When I first came, we had a steel project in Baoshan. But these years it's developing rapidly and the local government are very active in cooperating with foreign companies. The WuSongKou International Cruise Terminal in Baoshan is now the largest cruise home port in Asia with a yearly increasing demand." Speaking of the changes in Baoshan, Davide, who has been there many times since the early 1990s, is deeply touched. "Today more and more Chinese choose to enjoy cruise travel and have higher requirements for cruise services. In this respect, Italy is experienced. Almost 50% of the luxury cruises seen at the terminal are made by Italian companies like Fincantieri. And Italian cruise operation companies like Costa also contribute a lot." With the luxury cruise cooperation project between China and Italy, maybe we could see a luxury cruise liner made in China in the near future.

Davide Cuccino as the Vice President of the Leonardo Company

As China continues to open up, more and more domestic companies will choose to go global, and Italy is certainly a popular trading partner. As the Chairman of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, Davide knows a lot about the current situation. He mentioned that Chinese companies have been investing in Italian technical industries including motorcycles, automobile manufacturing, automobile design, marine engines and agricultural machinery." There is a saying that Chinese investors have taken away Italian technology. However, in fact these investments are win-win as they help Italian local companies achieve stable employment and output." In a manner of speaking, during the process of going global, Chinese companies not only grow themselves but also bring tangible benefits to their partners.

Sino-Italian cooperation on the New Silk Road

The "Belt and Road Initiative" is a new chapter of the reform and opening up, allowing China to move into a new stage on the road to openness, innovation and civilization. And Italy has always been regarded as a bridge between European and Eastern countries. Whether for the "Silk Road Economic Belt" or the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road", Italy is no doubt among the most important and active nodes.

"In May 2017, the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held in Beijing. President Xi Jinping hosted the Leaders Roundtable Summit and invited many countries to participate. In the European Union, I think Italy is quite representative and could be a leading country of this initiative." Davide is full of confidence for the future of the B&R Initiative." There are several ports in Italy that have already established cooperation with China such as Genoa, Venice and Trieste. And along with the developed Italian railway network, goods can be delivered to any major European countries once they arrive at these ports."

Maritime transport is unobstructed, and so is land transport. Davide said that thanks to the Sino-European freight train, goods from inland areas in China like Chengdu and Chongqing can now be transported directly by train to the northern part of Italy and then delivered to the whole of Italy - Naples in the Southern part, for example - through its railway network.

Looking back into the past, the trade volume between China and Italy in 1970 was only 120 million dollars, due to China's inward-looking foreign trade protection policy before 1978. After reform and opening up, the import and export volume skyrocketed from 1981 to 1995, reaching over 5 billion dollars in 1995. Although there exist fluctuations, driven by the B&R Initiative, the trade volume between China and Italy has been soaring again these years. According to statistics from Eurostat, in 2015,the first year when the initiative was launched, the bilateral trade volume in goods was US$42.8 billion, of which Italy exported US$11.5 billion to China and imported US$31.2 billion from China. In 2017, it was US$47.4 billion, US$15.3 billion, and US$32.1 billion, an increase of 10.7%, 32.8% and 2.6% respectively compared to 2015.

What's more, in addition to benefiting from the B&R initiative, Italy can make more contributions. "The network of the Italian Chamber of Commerce is comprised of 74 chapters covering countries alongside the Belt and Road such as Vietnam and India," said Davide. "We will ask local chapters to select some representative projects in respective countries that match the B&R initiative. Definitely we may face difficulties, but we can take advantage of this network and cooperate with China to promote our technical support projects for infrastructure construction including railways and ports."

From Central Asia to Russia, from Iran to Pakistan, the Sino-Italian cooperation is expected to bring prosperity to more countries along the route.

Davide Cucino's wishes for China's reform and opening up

"As the saying of Confucius goes,‘success lies in previous preparations.'It is not a sudden decision for a country to reform and open up. China has a history of 5,000 years and had already accumulated a profound foundation before China made changes. And that’s why China made it in 40 years." Davide said at the end of the interview. "The trend of globalization is irreversible, and I firmly believe China will remain open continuously."