China and Italy plan for more economic cooperation

With 19 documents on bilateral cooperation signed on Saturday, China and Italy expect to achieve better outcomes in business and finance.

Under the , which made Italy the first G7 member to join the BRI, the two sides agreed to make joint efforts in building better connection, including improving the link between the BRI and Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T).

The agreements inked are worth an initial 2.5 billion euros (2.8 billion U.S. dollars) and may have a potential value of 20 billion euros, according toItalian Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio.

The two sides will deepen cooperation in ports, logistics, marine transportation and other areas, and join efforts under the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to advance connectivity in line with the AIIB's mission and functions.

China and Italy also encouraged cooperation between enterprises, especially in terms of the e-commerce, tourism and leisure industries. Based on an MoU signed last September, the two sides support their companies working together in third markets and other projects are expected to be specified through bilateral enterprise forums.

More air links can be expected as the two sides agreed to facilitate airlines from each other to do business and ease the market access for them.

They agreed to oppose protectionism of any form, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, maintain the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s central role and jointly push for necessary reforms to the WTO.

Both sides agreed to strengthen economic cooperation, trade and investment through afair environment for competition, intellectual property protection and offering more convenient market access for each other.

Italy will attend the second China International Import Expo which will be held this year, and the two countries will work together on the issue of Italian beef export to China.

(With input from Xinhua)