On April 22, "Milano Finanza" published an article signed by Ambassador Jia Guide. We publish here the full text:

For some time now, global geopolitical conflicts have intensified, the momentum of international cooperation has weakened, and anti-globalization tendencies are on the rise, making the global economic recovery complex and tortuous. At the same time, the Chinese economy has withstood downward pressure and maintained its upward trend, so much so that last year the gross domestic product exceeded 126 trillion yuan, with an increase of 5.2%, registering a growth rate among the highest of the world's major economies and contributing one-third to global growth.

The Chinese Engine

Why is China's engine still powerful and why will "the next China" still be China? First of all, China pursues a new development concept and continues to promote high-quality development. China does not intend to sacrifice the environment or accumulate long-term risks in the name of short-term growth, so its economic development will be even greener and more sustainable. In recent years, thanks to far-sighted economic policies and industrial structure, Chinese emerging industries have been in full expansion, green transformation has achieved remarkable results, and new quality productivity has accelerated.

The "three new technologies" of new energy vehicles, photovoltaic cells, and lithium batteries have recorded good sales globally, and numerous important original achievements have been made in various fields, such as quantum technology, integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and new energies. And it is predicted that the incremental market size in sectors such as green infrastructure, green energy, green transportation, and sustainable living will reach 10 trillion yuan per year. These new development engines will effectively support China in achieving this year's growth target of around 5%.

An opportunity for Made in Italy

China's development offers opportunities to Made in Italy in finding new growth points and also provides broad perspectives for the two countries to expand practical cooperation in emerging sectors.

Secondly, the advantages of the huge Chinese market, which counts 1.4 billion people, continue to strengthen. Ranking first in the world for online retail sales and second as a consumer market, in China all kinds of products have a wide customer base. The number of middle-income people has exceeded 400 million and is estimated to double in the next ten years, so the demand for mid-to-high-end products is set to strengthen further, and users' requests for customization to diversify even more.

Recently, China has launched a new cycle oflarge-scale device upgrading and the exchange of consumer goods in various fields, including new energy vehicles and eco-friendly appliances, thuscreating an additional huge market estimated at 5 trillion yuan per year. With the continuous advancement in constructing a unified national market, new needs and new business formats are emerging explosively, and the business environment is becoming more standardized, transparent, and predictable, so China will provide investors around the world with a market yielding higher returns than in the past.

It is foreseeable that Made in Italy products, known for their design, customization, and high quality, will be able to gain more favor and more sales in the Chinese market, provided they fully leverage their unique competitive advantages.

A more open China

Thirdly, the decisions and measures taken by China to open up to the outside world are certain. Last year, China issued 24 policies and measures aimed at stabilizing foreign investments, seeking to further optimize the investment environment and increase efforts to attract t hem. Of these measures, over 60% have been implemented or made positive progress. The overall level of Chinese tariffs has been reduced to 7.3%, equivalent to that of developed World Trade Organization member countries.

The negative list for access to foreign investments has been reduced to less than 31 items, access to the manufacturing sector has been completely liberalized, and the opening of the service sector has been accelerated. Over the last five years, the rate of return on foreign direct investments in China has been around 9%, ranking among the best in the world. According to statistics, last year nearly 54,000 new foreign-owned companies were established in China, with an increase that nearly touched 40%. In the first two months of this year, Chinese goods imports and exports increased by 8.7% year-on-year, marking an increase higher than the industry's expectations.

In particular, at the end of last year, China introduced a visa exemption policy for some countries, including Italy, facilitating payment modalities for those traveling in the country and once again sending a positive signal regarding the Chinese commitment to high-levelopening. We welcome an increasing number of small and medium-sized Italian entrepreneurs and people from all walks of life arriving in China, ready to discuss cooperation and achieve greater development.

Italy-China, a twenty-year relationship

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the global strategic partnership between China and Italy and the seven-hundredth anniversary of the death of Marco Polo, a pioneer of exchanges between Eastern and Western civilizations. The development of bilateral relations between China and Italy is ushering in a new spring, and there is ample room for economic and commercial bilateral investments.

In recent days, the fifteenth meeting ofthe China-Italy Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation was held in Verona, as well as other activities supporting enterprises, an occasion in which representatives from the economic and commercial environments of the two countries promote business through business, discuss new opportunities for Chinese development, promote practical cooperation, increase bilateral economic and trade exchanges, bringing tangible benefits to the populations of both countries.

I also hope that MF-Milano Finanza will constantly improve and continue to be an important window for Italian friends from all areas who wish to observe and understand the Chinese economy.(reproduction reserved)

For reading:

www.milanofinanza.it/news/asia-ecco-perche-la-ripresa-economica-della-cina-e-un-ottima-opportunita-per-il-made-in-italy-202404200955233380#:~:text=An'opportunity%20for%20the%20made,practical%20cooperation%20in%20emerging%20sectors.