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."

Story by: Lu Yukun

Translated by: Tang Xinning

Cameraman:Fan Yicheng