CCIC Meets with Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce

On February 24th, 2023, the Vice President for Southwest of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce, Mr Gianluca Luisi, met with Ms Xiong Jinhua, Director of the Services Trade and Business Services Division of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce.

Sichuan province is one of the largest economies in the Southwest, as well as an important business hub for international cooperation projects in trading and investment sectors. The purpose of the visit was to officially introduce our Chamber to the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce, while discussing possible synergies for cooperation between the two parties. The visit is part of a series of meetings that the CCIC is organizing with local Chinese authorities, aimed at sharing the main initiatives in the pipeline, as well as defining priorities and strategic guidelines for joint cooperation activities.

Mr Gianluca Luisi introduced to Director Xiong the mission of CCIC, its members, objectives, and key activities. He mentioned that with the opening of the Chamber's Chengdu office on April 2nd, 2021, the CCIC has been working on the process of promoting trade and investment exchanges between Italy and Sichuan. Mr Luisi then introduced some of the Chamber's major events organized both at the national level and in the Southwest region, and also recalled some important projects that saw cooperation between the parties, such as the Tianfu Famous Cuisine Recommendation Chart or the event “Italy Meets China: Sichuan Focus”, which saw the participation of Deputy Director Mr Liang Yong of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce.

Director Ms Xiong Jinhua first made a brief introduction to the organizational structure and functional division of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce, in which the Service Trade Division is mainly responsible for formulating the development plan for trade in services and service outsourcing, studying, and proposing policies to promote technology trade and service import-export. It is responsible for the promotion and management of the exhibition industry, and for the work of international freight forwarding, etc. She suggested that the direction of cooperation between the two sides in 2023 can continue by considering the food industry as an entry point, especially in activities such as the Taste of Sichuan Summit and the Taste of Sichuan Food and Beverage Conference, in addition to strengthening cooperation in helping to develop the national import and export service base in Sichuan Province, which can be strengthened by introducing Italian enterprises to the base and cooperating in small and medium-sized forums to strengthen the exchange between the two sides and provide more choice platforms for Italian enterprises to settle down.

CCIC is looking forward to deeper cooperation and exchanges with the Sichuan Provincial Department of Commerce to provide more business opportunities for the Italian community in the area.