Officials in Milan have said that the Italian business and fashion capital was looking at more business opportunities in the Chinese fast-developing economy.
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"Several meetings between Chinese and Italian delegations have followed one another in recent times," highlighting Milan's increasing interest towards China, Milan's Councillor for Commerce and Tourism Franco D'Alfonso said.
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D'Alfonso made the remarks during the two-day visit in Milan of a Chinese delegation from Tianjin that ended on Thursday.
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The luxury and agri-food sectors were on top of the "very precious" chances for Italian firms to develop new business activities in China, D'Alfonso noted.
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"Our challenge will be offering increasingly high-quality products, as the tastes of Chinese consumers who have strong financial means are becoming more and more sophisticated," he said.
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David Doninotti, Secretary General at the Italian Association of Foreign Trade (AICE), said his association was looking at China with enhanced interest.
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China, which used to be an export-oriented country until some two years ago, was now looking towards creating a balanced economy by increasing domestic consumer demand, he noted.
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As a result, Doninotti stressed, the Sino-Italian exchange has evolved from being a collaboration mainly based on lower production costs and exports to a variety of opportunities for Italian companies investing in China.Â