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."