The opportunities for Italian companies in Chongqing

October, 2014

Italian companies that want to exploit the opportunities of the Chinese market may find success in the municipality of Chongqing, whose economic growth proceeds at a rate even much more sustained than China as a whole.

Chongqing is a great opportunity for Italian companies that want to operate in the Chinese market. The municipality of Chongqing is, in fact, at the center of the Go-West policy since 2000 and for this reason it is often the site of pilot projects which in many cases require the involvement of foreign actors. Relationships with local counterparts can also count on the presence of the Italian Consulate, which can facilitate operations in the municipality. In 2013, the GDP of Chongqing amounted to 1.2 trillion renminbi, against 197 billion in 2002. The pace is increasing compared to the GDP of China, in the sense that the Gross Domestic Product of China increased in 2013 by 7.6 percent while 12.3 percent in Chongqing. The municipality has an incidence of 2.22 percent on the national GDP (www.agichina24.it).
“Chongqing is one of the centers of which the Chinese Government has decided to aim to grow the west area of the country, and it is a center that presents logistical and structural preferential fiscal and policy incentives for companies wishing to invest in its territory”.

Sergio Maffettone

Italian Consul in Chongqing

The opportunities for Italian companies are particularly fervent in some areas, among which the automotive industry (already Iveco and Comau), agriculture and urban development. Also significant potential in the services sector, especially if directed to environmental protection and to rationalize the distribution of the population in the different areas that make up the territory of the megalopolis. They are, in fact, been carried out and planned huge investments for the development of public infrastructure in the city, among which the new elevated railway for communication within the municipality. Food, luxury and manufacturing are undoubtedly areas in which to assert the strength and appeal of the made in Italy. In recent months, a delegation of representatives of Lombard companies has made an important mission in the province of Chongqing to conclude agreements in the automotive and electronics sectors.