Nov. 13 – Thirteen Piedmont companies are heading to China, November 17-21, to meet with the R&D department of the Chinese rail colossus CNR (China North Railway) and 5 automotive companies: Chang ‘an Automobile, Sokon, Lifan, Caeri (China Automotive Engineering Research Institute Co. Ltd) and Shineray Auto. The initiative is part of the Integrated Supply Chain Projects (Pif) “From Concept to Car” and “Turin-Piedmont Railway,” managed by Cei Piemonte – Center for Internationalization, on behalf of the Piedmont Region, Unioncamere Piemonte, and the Chambers of Commerce of Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta. Since its inception in early 2013, the Turin-Piedmont Railway Project brought about intense exchanges between Piedmont companies and Chinese railway sector clients. A Chinese company expressed a very specific wish, driving two Italian companies, Blue Engineering and Canavera & Audi, to partner with the Politecnico di Torino and coordinate with the Turin-Piedmont Railway to develop the scale 1: 5 prototype of a high-speed coach for goods transport. The product met with great interest, and the two companies are now participating in the mission to further assess the business potential of the project. The first part of the mission will focus on the rail sector, with targeted meetings with R&D specialists from China North Railway in its Changchun headquarters (Jilin Province) and in the center of excellence for mass transit vehicles of Dalian (Liaoning Province). To meet with the automotive sector, the Piedmont delegation will travel West, in the Chongqing municipality. With a GDP of 1.2 trillion yuan in 2013 (+ 12.3% compared to the 7.6% Chinese average) and a population as large as that of Canada, the region offers great opportunities for Italian companies. (Red)
