Italy and China are instrumental trading partners, with an annual trade of about 35 billion euros. Vis-a-vis China, Italy is suffering a significant trade deficit, growing in structural terms in the past 15 years. Rebalancing this asymmetry is an objective shared by the two countries.
Italian exports to China are particularly driven by machinery, equipment, vehicles, clothing, pharmaceuticals and agro-food.
In June 2014 in Beijing, the Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi, and the Prime Minister of China, Li Keqiang, adopted a three-year Action Plan in the economic, commercial and financial fields. The governments of Italy and China have an agenda focusing on the key priorities of their economic systems. Green technologies, agro-food, sustainable urbanization, health services and the aerospace industry are fields in which the two countries can work together, aware of the perfect complementarity between the Italian technological and industrial offer and the Chinese demand caused by the extraordinary development of China.
As for investments, the stocks of Italian FDI in China exceed 12 billion euros.
The Italy-China Intergovernmental Committee – main instrument of the bilateral Strategic Partnership – is the steering committee of the bilateral dialogue. In addition to this, within the framework of the Joint Economic and Commercial Committee, representatives of the two countries discuss issues such as market access, IPR protection and the strengthening of trade and mutual investments.
The two countries have also created the Italy-China Business Forum (opened in Beijing by the two Prime Ministers in June 2014, renewed in 2016). Italian and Chinese entrepreneurs have therefore a permanent dedicated forum working in parallel with the intergovernmental dialogue, facilitating the exchange of information and know-how, industrial and investment proposals.
The Economic and Commercial Office of the Embassy in Beijing coordinates economic promotion activities in China, assisting the Italian enterprises interested or already operating in China.
Doing Business in Italy
- Italia Startup Visa
- The Treasury Department of the Ministry of Economy and Finance
- Statistics about Italian economy by the Bank of Italy
Registroimprese.it, the website to obtain all the information on the Italian and European companies.
The www.registroimprese.it website provides access via web to the content of the Register of Companies, the public registry that provides a comprehensive system of legal advertising of Italian and European companies. The portal, managed by the Chamber system Infocamere, also collects the substantial and updated information endowment of the Register of Compleaints, of the database Patent and Trademark and of the Registrar of Companies of the other EU countries. Through the website the user can also send and deposit practices and acts relevant to the life of Italian companies.
Basic information are available free of charge, while access to detailed information is subject to an annual paid subscription. Since October 2014, the data in the registry and reported in the portal have been translated into English.