Dec. 11 – Enterprises from Italy’s Marche head to China to sign a cooperation agreement between the leaders of the Qingdao CCPIT (China Council for the Promotion of International Trade) and the representatives of Unioncamere Marche and Marche Region. The agreement follows the visit of the Chinese delegation to the Marche region; it seeks to deepen economic and trade relations between the city of Qingdao and the Marche. The Region said in a statement that the formalization of the agreement “is part of the co-operation program already ratified by the partnership agreement, signed last year between the Shandong Province CCPIT and Unioncamere Marche in Jinan. The activity of the Marche Info Point in Jinan provides regional technical assistance and has already yielded positive results, giving way to a series of commitments in university, technological research, innovation, tourism, culture, education, urban planning and environmental enhancement.” Over the past few months, the technical assistance point has woven more and more intense relations with the authorities of the city of Qingdao and laid the foundations for future partnerships. The city of Qingdao has a population of over seven million inhabitants in an area of 10,654 km² and is located in northeastern China, facing the sea, in front of South Korea and Japan. The strategic location, combined with the topography of the area, makes the city a huge natural harbor to attract foreign investors and businesses, making it an economically vibrant zone. Among the cities considered “second tier” in China, Qingdao is certainly one of the most dynamic and open to collaborations with foreign countries. In 1984, thanks to its great development, Qingdao was declared by the Central Government of China a Special Economic Zone and developed further its secondary and tertiary sectors.
