Milan eyes enhanced business opportunities in China: officials

Officials in Milan have said that the Italian business and fashion capital was looking at more business opportunities in the Chinese fast-developing economy.

"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.

D'Alfonso made the remarks during the two-day visit in Milan of a Chinese delegation from Tianjin that ended on Thursday.

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.

"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.

David Doninotti, Secretary General at the Italian Association of Foreign Trade (AICE), said his association was looking at China with enhanced interest.

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.

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.