Carmine Gelli, vice chairman of Italian Chamber of Commerce and chairman of Italian Northwest Business Association, personally visited the shoe enterprises in Wuhou district, Chengdu city on Aug 28. After gaining an overall knowledge of the shoe enterprise in Chengdu, Gelli immediately claimed the Italian Chamber of Commerce will set up an office in Chengdu at the end of this year. The office will be dedicated to the exchanges between Chinese and Italian enterprises.

The office will likely be the second office of the organization in China. The first one will be a Hangzhou office in Zhejiang province, dedicated to tourism exchanges. In the future, the enterprises in Chengdu may expect smooth international exchanges with renowned Italian enterprises. Meanwhile, it will also create favorable conditions for wider international trade cooperation between the Chinese western region and Italy.

Advice to the shoe enterprises in Chengdu: 'Foster international awareness'

"Chengdu is advantageous in mass production of ladies shoes, but it still needs some time to strengthen and expand its brands of ladies shoes, needs to raise the quality and R&D capacity of ladies shoes, and increase the added value of ladies shoe brands," Gelli said after visiting a few brand shoe enterprises. In his opinion, the shoe enterprises in the Ladies Shoe Center of China should be united to enhance self-discipline in the industry, foster international consciousness and set up an enterprise alliance dedicated to the operation of ladies shoe brands in Chengdu. This organization would help shoe enterprises solve various problems in with brands and channels during the course of development.

It has been learned Gelli has reached a preliminary intent of cooperation with the Sichuan International Trade Shoe Center. According to the intent, he will organize TESTTONI, GEOX and other internationally famous Italian shoemakers to cooperate with the shoe enterprises in Chengdu in form of OEM or others. He will also organize internationally famous Italian shoe material suppliers and R&D institutions to carry out direct trade with the shoe enterprises in Chengdu.

After the visit to some export-oriented shoe enterprises in Chengdu, Gelli agreed to a special interview with a reporter from Chengdu Daily at the Ladies Shoe Center of China.

"After this visit, I have a rough picture of southwestern China," Gelli said. "In the future, Italian enterprises and the enterprises in Chengdu will have many chances for exchange and will create more business opportunities, too." Gelli said the Italian Chamber of Commerce would set up an office in Chengdu at the end of this year. The office will be dedicated to exchange between Chinese and Italian enterprises. It will be the second office of the organization in China. The first one, Hangzhou Office, is dedicated to tourism exchange.

As revealed by Gelli, the office will provide convenience for economic and trade cooperation between Chinese and Italian enterprises, save the cooperation cost of the two regions and lift the level of economic and trade cooperation between China and Italy.

The Italian Chamber of Commerce has more than 120,000 famous enterprises, which cover many fields, including shoe, food, machinery and transport. This organization has set up offices in every Italian city and international offices in all parts of the world. These offices are devoted to seeking business opportunities for its enterprises and promoting the economic and trade cooperation between Italy and other countries.